Friends, as the old saying goes, "Only Nixon could go to China." What this means is that only someone with the credentials of an ironclad anti-communist could go to Red China and attempt to make peace with an execrable regime. Nixon's opening to China was a prerequisite of our victory in the Cold War, as it turned out. Likewise, perhaps "Only Trump can bring peace in Korea." Why do I say that? Because previous U.S. Presidents have failed utterly to deflect North Korea from its seemingly irrational and iconoclastic course, especially its infatuation with nuclear weapons and long-range missiles. Trump, however, by talking tough and by being demonstrably willing to use force, has caused the regime of Kim Jong-un to take stock and reconsider its potentially suicidal policies. North Korea has now suspended its nuclear and missile testing, and it has pronounced a willingness to consider full denuclearization. Meanwhile, Trump is prepared to meet with Kim Jong-un. These are revolutionary developments that create the possibility, though certainly not the certainty, of a major breakthrough. I, for one, am very pleased.
Read about what may happen next in my latest article, kindly published by American Greatness:
https://amgreatness.com/2018/04/21/a-common-sense-strategy-for-north-korea/
Dr.Waddy: We have, of course, to be wary of manipulation by a N. Korean regime which harbors a historically based (but not justified; we defeated the Japanese, who had savaged Korea and N.Korea was obviously the aggressor in the Korean War) animus against us. Our gutsy and canny President is up to this challenge. I remember traveling in 1972 to a hill on the border between the then British Colony of Hong Kong and the People's Republic. Looking into China, as it was then, I remember thinking, "no American can go there". That changed soon enough, thanks to the arch antiCommunist, President Nixon. Should a similar miracle occur across the "demilitarized zone" centered on Panmunjom let the chief beneficiaries be the long suffering N.Korean people, so long artificially denied the benefits of modern civilization.
ReplyDeleteHear hear! Much of their isolation is caused by the artificial and utterly obsolete conflict between North and South (plus the USA). My guess is, if the regime could be persuaded that it's safe from marauding Americans, it would permit much more openness.
ReplyDeleteIf we come to an agreement, we would finally see some sexy North Korean babes on the tennis courts XD
ReplyDeleteLove the blog Nick!
Dr. Waddy: I don't know much about Korean history. I think that at one time the peninsula had more than one kingdom and I don't know if they were much at odds or if that would have modern ramifications. The so called "Hermit Kingdom" had little independent contact with the West. The Japanese treated them with contemptuous malevolence when they occupied Korea in the late 19th and early to mid 20th centuries. Maybe many Koreans blame the Western powers, whose savaging of China compelled the Japanese to become a modern power which succeeded in holding off the West until it overreached in 1941. Japan believed it had to expand to secure the natural resources to assure its continued industrialization,to protect its flanks and to become a new Chinese dynasty (as had been done by the Mongols and Manchus). Perhaps many Koreans believe that understandable fear of Western predation moved the Japanese to do this, to Korea's sorrow. But South Korea has realized immeasurable material well being through trust for and cooperation with a West much reformed since the 19th century. The Chinese Communists fought very well against the Japanese and this, along with Stalin's opportunistic rush for territory and influence vacated by the Japanese, may have given Kim Il Sung the opening he needed to install a Marxist regime which has, of course, since held its sway with raw force. There may be some evidence that Kim Jong Un actually purposes the material betterment of N. Koreans and may be somewhat amenable to an opening to the West to bring this about.
ReplyDeleteWhy, thank you, Richard! I don't know how North Korean babes approach the game of tennis, but my guess would be with puzzlement and trepidation...
ReplyDeleteJack, it seems to me that Koreans have good historical reasons to hate the Chinese, Japanese, Russians, AND Americans, but I doubt they're any more hung up on the past than other nationalities. A bigger question, from my perspective, would be just how much the Northerners and Southerners have in common, after inhabiting separate dimensions for almost 75 years... Putting Germany back together again was hard enough. I wouldn't envy them the task of putting Korea back together. Luckily, I don't think China would permit it anyway.
Dr. Waddy: Great point about their long separation; its really a lifetime and may have made profound differences. In East Asia the only other example we have is the "reunification" of North and South Vietnam and that was done with typical Communist decisiveness and disregard for due process. If the U.S. and N.Korea can reach a modus vivendi surely China would want to see the regime survive. Maybe, just maybe, the N. Korean people may have a better life, still austere but liveable, at hand? Tennis? Well we did have "ping pong diplomacy" in 1971.
ReplyDeleteJack, I'd sure like to think the North Korean people have better days ahead of them... It's hard to imagine they could get any worse! Things can percolate very quickly, once an ossified regime cracks open the door just a little. Ask Erich Honecker or our old friend Gorby.
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