Pyongyang: just as bellicose, and now with nukes

Did anyone expect North Korea to greet United Nations sanctions with a heartfelt apology and an offer to host the Special Olympics? If so, the news Tuesday was deflating: After a two-day silence, Pyongyang called the sanctions a “declaration of war,” and vowed “merciless blows” on anyone who might dare violate North Korea’s sovereignty. It also threatened another nuclear test.
Sigh. It appears North Korea with nuclear weapons is about the same as North Korea without: a sullen child with a sizable gun.
Unless Kim Jong Il has to start dining on ramen, the sanctions are unlikely to have much effect. But since face-to-face diplomacy has been ruled out, they’re about all the Bush administration is going to get. Maybe now would be a good time for the United States to quietly revoke Pyongyang’s “axis of evil” status and let the nations with the most to lose — China, Japan and South Korea — take the lead in dealing with their troublesome neighbor.
Posted by Dave Knadler

4 Comments

  1. Erik
    Posted October 19, 2006 at 8:07 am | Permalink

    Well I can tell you this much. It is pretty much a certain fact that their army numbers are in the million(s).

    If Mr. Bush is thinking about an invasion, that would be the worst mistake in 200 years. We would lose that conflict so badly that it would make Vietnam look like a cakewalk.

    If the DPRK is one thing, its not short of weapons or troops. And they are not afraid to use them.

    I have to agree with Dave on this, lets have Japan and China sit down with Kim. He is more likely to listen to their concerns.

    I wouldn’t want to listen to Bush spell out concerns, he cant talk properly. And calling a country an axis of evil, even if that is factual, is a bad political move.

    How can you ever hope to soothe relations with a country if you say something pompous like that.

    And that is my 3 cents for the day.

  2. Wiseman
    Posted October 19, 2006 at 10:41 am | Permalink

    Yes, I agree, lets’ leave it to China, Japan and South Korea to handle this.North Korea has been asking for a bloody nose for a very long time from its neighbors.The only time we should be involved is when they absolutely and very clearly ask for our help.

  3. Vaughn Tolle
    Posted October 19, 2006 at 8:15 pm | Permalink

    While it may be that it is logical to us that China, Japan, et al should take the lead on this, NK wants bilateral talks with the U.S.; the government there has said so many times; and, unless the good offices of the Chinese and Japanese can changes his mind, I don’t see them making any progress without direct U.S. involvement.

  4. J R
    Posted October 19, 2006 at 8:53 pm | Permalink

    This should not even be a problem. It was our original intervention in Korea a half century ago and the unresolved aftermath of that that has brought us to this difficult point. Of course, it IS a proplem because we are allied with South Korea and we have 37,000 troops in harms way.

    What complicates this further is the little discussed contempt that Koreans, Chinese, and Japanese have for each other.

    The only way forward is negotiations. N Korea can make nukes and we cannot stop them. Therefore they must have incentive NOT to make them. Don’t ask me how we do that.

    See what a foreign entanglement gets you 50 years down the line?