Wednesday, March 19, 2003
Adam: Well, we're studying the causes of the second Korean War and I just don't get it.
Gen. Spears: As I've explained before, Adam, President George W. Bush was obsessed with Saddam Hussein, not to mention with Iraq's oil reserves. He managed to convince most Americans that Iraq was responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York City and Washington. So, people just weren't paying much attention to the North Korean threat.
There's much more but this is my favorite:
Adam: So why didn't the United States just negotiate with North Korea? It seems like they were working hard to get our attention.
Gen. Spears: They certainly were. After they admitted to developing a nuclear weapons program, they disconnected the International Atomic Energy Agency's monitoring cameras, kicked out the weapons inspectors, withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, restarted an atomic reactor and threatened to end the armistice that halted the first Korean War.
No sense of irony here whatsover. Admitting to a clandestine nuclear weapons program, expelling the IAEA, withdrawing from the NPT, restarting the Yongbyon reactor and threatening to end the armistice are all simply categorized as attempts to get American attention, cries for help that Bush refused to heed. Just off of the top of my head, here are a few better ways for Kim Jong-il and the DPRK to get our attention:
1) Officially announce the cessation of the HEU program.
2) Officially renounce any sale of nuclear technology or material abroad
3) Close Yodok and other concentration camps and release the prisoners held there.
4) Allow South Koreans to freely communicate with and visit family members in the North.
5) Announce that Kim Jong-il will make the long promised reciprocal visit to Seoul.
6) Rather than threaten to end the armistice, how about unilaterally declaring that North Korean armed forces will never attack the South and ask for the South to make a reciprocal promise?
7) Allow DPRK citizens to freely leave the country if they wish.
I came up with this list in 30 seconds. There are surely many more ways in which the DPRK could get outside attention that would actually be constructive and confidence-building.
