Comment on Economist article (31 May 2010) “No Waving, Just Drowning”
Isn’t it about time the North Pacific powers acted to dismantle the North Korean regime. I know they say they fear instability, but that is what they have now, and without coordinated action, this desperate regime just might turn their bluster into action soon. Nukes on Seoul or Tokyo would be far worse than a refugee problem at either end of the country.
Surely it is possible via the secret talks the Economist is suggesting, that the US, China, South Korea, Japan and perhaps Russia plan out coordinated action to move on a dismantling of the regime. China just needs to cut off power and water and the regime will collapse, but that would need to be followed by coordinated action in a way the Bush Regime didn’t act after the fall of Bagdad.
Even China may agree that a unified Korea would be preferrable to a trigger happy divided one. Oh and by the way, there are ways to avoid the cost of the German unification model. The single biggest mistake the Germans made was to initially unify their currency. A unified country, but with borders between North and South, but with a program of moving towards common institutions including political institutions, would not only create a lot bigger market, but would see a shift of investment from the high cost South to the low-cost North , and open up a flowering of economic activity that over the years would see the countries totally coming together. It may take 50 years, but increasing economic prosperity and political stability would be in everyone’s interests, not least China.
This is one instance where coordinated action is justified, just like Pol Pot, Bosnia, East Timor, and Nazi Germany.
Filed under: Asian Politics, Politics, china japan act in tandem on korean settlement, US south korea
