A Win For North Korea

For those who are interested in the current peace talks between North and South Korea, it would be helpful if they read about them with some perspective about the U.S. role.

For more than six years the Bush administration has been attacking the North Korean government, listing them among the axis of evil, and saber rattling while the North Koreans have postured their nuclear power plants and sent missles out over the Sea of Japan (East Sea).

Now, with seeming surprise, there is talk that America will promise not to undertake an aggressive war against North Korea in return for the North’s promise to stop its nuclear endeavor. Shades of remarkability, is this not the same proposal that President Clinton made nearly a decade ago. And was it not seen then as a “win” for North Korea.

Well, that is because it is. I don’t usually buy all that Bruce Cumings says about the Korean War, but he is sure on the mark in his recent comments when he explains just how much of a win it is for the North.

North Korean Economy: http://nkeconwatch.com
Roundup: Historian. http://hnn.us/roundup/1.html#44102

Senior Fellow, Paul M. Edwards

Best Interests

So what are China, Russia, and the United States doing in the Korean peace talks?

Is it that everyone who had an interest in the war nearly sixty years ago still retains the same interest? Or, perhaps, these are the nations that see some significance in Korea remaining divided.

Is it South Korea that is refusing to send the promised rice until the nuclear plants are destroyed? Don't think so. Is it China that is interested in opening the border so that Koreans can move back and forth with their families? Don't think so.

Perhaps the move, recently taken by the South to just go ahead and talk with the North, is a good move.

www.kimsoft.com/korea/4-talks.htm
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/IF02Dg01.html

Senior Fellow, Paul M. Edwards

'MacArthur' Too Simple An Explanation

I'm still thinking about David Halberstam's book The Coldest Winter, which is turning out to be a best seller.

There are a lot of things about the book I don't like, but the author must be given his due credit. Reading it puts me in the strange position of defending General MacArthur.

In a better world I would die my death rather than defend this man who, in my opinion, was the worst egomaniac among an army of egomaniacs. But, come on, to blame the whole war on him? No, I don't think so.

Certainly his ego got in the way and in the final analysis made a difficult job even more difficult, but there is a lot of blame to be spread around. To focus so harshly on General MacArthur leaves the reader with a far too simple explanation for a very complex problem.

Senior Fellow, Paul M. Edwards

The Coldest Winter

There seems to be no end to the amount of comment available in the news and on the net about The Coldest Winter. I finally got around to reading it. What can I say? It is long.

And it tells a story that is perhaps the only Korean War story that has been well told. If I had no prior knowledge of the Korean War then it would be generally informative, but there is certainly nothing new.

All the sources are secondary, and a significant number of them are questionable in terms of accuracy. But, certainly, it is well written.

And while the stories don't always seem to relate to the events taking place, they are descriptive. Whatever it is, it does bring to focus events that have not been properly considered, and highlights a war that, even today, is remarkably unacknowledged.

http://www.slate.com/id/2174591/fr/rss/

Senior Fellow, Paul M. Edwards

An Obvious Question?

Surely it is time someone in the Bush administration asked themselves the obvious question: What does North Korea want?

In between the sword rattling and the rhetoric about peace treaties, the message does not seem to have changed a great deal in the past thirty years.

More than anything North Korea wants to be left alone. By left alone, I mean treated like any other sovereign country, free of international harassment, free of a foreign power poising troops on its border, free to trade for the food and energy it needs.

And is this too much to ask? Somehow I don't think so.

http://www.etherzone.com/2006/raim070706.shtml
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/IF02Dg01.html

Senior Fellow, Paul M. Edwards