People call North Korea the last Stalinist regime in the world — a dictatorship that refuses to convert to democracy, one that will possibly refuse to do so until the end of time — and consider it a country that can be easily ignored by the general public because the rest of the world is supposedly making vast improvements. On the other hand, global attention focuses on North Korea when decade-long famines cause the death of so many people that it becomes impossible for even the Communist government to hide the corpses.
After 60 years of decline, we are still waiting for the North Korean regime to collapse. Despite indications that businesses have begun to adopt capitalist methods, there have been significant signs of deterioration. The government has displayed photographs of Premier Kim Jong-Il at football games and other leisurely activities to prove that the pesky old dictator is as healthy as ever, but United States officials say that in one photograph, Kim’s left arm appears stiff, and in another photograph, the dictator’s legs appear photoshopped, reinforcing speculations that the 66-year-old dictator has suffered from a stroke and the left half of his body is paralyzed.
Speculation abounds throughout the rest of the world. If Kim is indeed paralyzed, how much power can he still wield and how much of the decision-making can be attributed to him? Due to the record-breaking food crisis (three million died in one province alone in 1995) and the decrease in U.S. foreign aid, the number of refugees flooding into China has increased exponentially — a possible explanation for the increase in Chinese troops guarding the China-Korea border. Could it be to hide any news of famine from the rest of the world? Or perhaps preparations for war? The situation is especially difficult because we have no idea what’s going on. Is Kim Jong-Il even still alive? Has he become a puppet?
Whatever guesses we may want to make, one thing is clear — the North Korean government is jostling for attention. On Dec. 1, it will close down border crossings with South Korea and close the industrial zone where North Koreans produce exports in factories financed by South Korean companies. Their excuse is South Korean president Lee Myung-bak’s decision to end the free flow of unconditional aid to its northern neighbor. Last month, North Korea shuttered its nuclear reactor at Yongbyun and barred U.N. inspectors from the reactor before threatening to resume plutonium production.
The North Korean government is using the above-mentioned devices to threaten the U.S. government into handing over billions of dollars and allowing it more time to disarm its nuclear program. In a sense, Pyongyang is sending the message that unless North Korea becomes one of Obama’s main policy concerns, something terrible is going to happen.
North Korea will continue to play its nuclear card to gain whatever it can from the U.S. and other industrialized countries. In that case, the future Obama administration must stay away from past methods. In simple terms, the Bush administration faced problems because it balked at having direct talks with North Korea, maintaining a tough stance that avoided compromise until only recently. On the other hand, the Clinton administration’s method of using bilateral talks as a reward for good behavior should also be avoided.
Hopefully, Obama’s plans for North Korea involve a few well-placed investments to boost its economy, especially its farms and factories. At the same time, the U.S. must step out of the way from time to time to let the North Koreans begin negotiating for international loans. Rather than focusing on nuclear non-proliferation, the U.S. should encourage economic autonomy from China and South Korea. When this happens the Communist regime will slowly open up to a more friendly diplomatic relationship. In other words, the U.S. ought to do what it did for China during the Cultural Revolution.
And what about the rest of us? Raising as much awareness as we can about a people whose sufferings are under the radar of most charity organizations would be helpful. If the American people could reach out to the North Korean people in a more intimate manner, this would be a good example of “change we can believe in.”