What if...we were to pursue a policy of open arms with North Korea?

[Hugabear]

So we're now considering even stricter sanctions against North Korea. Does anyone think this will be effective in the least? They're already one of the most isolated nations on earth, have been for quite some time. Sanctions have already proven to be very ineffective against North Korea's leadership. The people who are suffering the worst are the people, many of whom are starving.

Military action would seem to be out of the question. Despite the fact that their military is vastly antiquated, they still have one of the world's largest armies. I don't doubt that the US and its allies would eventually defeat North Korea militarily, but at what cost? Millions in Seoul would be vulnerable to North Korean artillery fire, which could be laced with chemical weapons. The US and South Korean forces along the border might put up a good fight, but would still likely be overrun by sheer numbers until reinforcements could arrive (and we're already stretched pretty damned thin). Many of our bases in the area are within North Korean missile range. Not to mention the fact that North Korea has NUKES, which it might use if it felt it had no choice. For those reasons, I don't see military action as a viable alternative.

So if sanctions don't work, and military force is off the table (or at least should be), then what alternative do we have? I have a surprising answer - how about openness? Isn't this exactly how we tried to change East Europe? Isn't this how we're dealing with China, who could hardly be described as a friend of human rights? We could start with at least signing a peace treaty, which Kim Jong Il seems to want. I don't really have much of a problem keeping sanctions against military arms in place, but why not go ahead and open many other avenues of trade? Show them that we're willing to work WITH them instead of AGAINST them?

I wholeheartedly believe that many of the problems in the world are primarily reactions against perceived threats from the US and its allies. Instead of continuing to reinforce that perception, maybe we could try changing it for once?

[sharp_stick]

1. North Korea

IMO isn't a place that would respond to an open arm policy with anything short of idiotic aggression. Over the years whenever a concession has been made to them they have taken it and then tried to take more.

That place, along with Burma, is so isolated and repressive that it's probably beyond our comprehension.

I don't know if there is anything we can do to help the people there, without stronger backing from China and Russia I think all we can hope for is containment.

[Hugabear]

2. I think therein lies the problem

By making "concessions", it's like saying that we're doing them a favor, that we're the ones in a superior position, and they should be so lucky that we're giving them a handout. Put yourself in their shoes, it might seem a little condescending.

I realize that North Korea is a highly authoritarian regime, and I don't harbor any false expectations that their leadership is suddenly going to loosen their grip. But I do think that by allowing more trade, more openness, that eventually it could lead to a thaw. It's worked before.

[TheWraith]

3. Except we ARE the ones in a superior position.

When your population is eating dirt, you've got little footing to claim equality with the richest nation on Earth.

[izquierdista]

4. I agree

Coaxing is the way to go, and it will require immense patience. The problem with trade is that they have nothing to trade. There is no agricultural surplus, their factories that are running are producing stuff that wasn't competitive 20 years ago, and all their services are organized to support their military. What they need are gifts, gifts that can help them out of the hole that they are in, but don't look like charity. Maybe we could give them lots of seedling trees under the guise of 'combating global warming', and maybe in a few years they would have fruit to eat and lumber to export.