North Korea’s Death Chambers

Front Page Magazine ^ | 04/05/05 | Jamie Glazov

[TigerLikesRooster]

Ping!

[TigerLikesRooster]

I thank Freeper "Shermy" for alerting me about this article.

[Shermy]

No problemo.

Thought it was interesting because of the "new thinking" signals on North Korea from Rice and Bush recently. Maybe from the realization, like this author says, the South Koreans aren't much interested in our solutions. And you posted an earlier article today about how South Korea might tilt to China.

Here's the Amazon reviews.

[Shermy]

Here's your earlier post that piqued my interest:

Report: South Korea calls for increased military cooperation with China(TROUBLE!)

[DoctorMichael]

"My instinct tells me that we have very little time to waste and that the time we do have should be spent on aggressively suffocating the life out of that regime -- instead of shaking hands with a psychopath who might be selling our deadliest enemies nuclear weapons or materials."

[PeterFinn]

Correction:

North Korea IS a death chamber!!!!

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #4

I think that the new thinking is about using China to pressure on N. Korea, so that N. Korea could follow Libya's path. That is not really working at the moment.

Right now, China and S. Korea are throwing roadblocks to U.S. path. However, I doubt that this would make U.S. give up. Rather S. Korea could invite herself to be another U.S. target. It does not take much to ruin S. Korean economy, without harming U.S. interest. China could also invite trouble from another direction, such as Taiwan.

Sino-S. Korean sabotage could make things ugly. However, I am not sure it will force U.S. to quit, especially when human right issue is now added to the negotiation table in addition to nukes.

[Shermy]

I think the ideal solution would be to get North Korea to give up all nukes, verifiably, and then get out of South Korea.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #8

By the way, Kim Il-sung is portrayed in rather benign way. It is true that he had a charisma and was a talented politician.

However, it is his desire to emulate Stalin but not to be disgraced after his death like Stalin, which started the whole mind-numbing personality cult. His credentials were manufactured. He was not a famed anti-Japanese guerrilla leader. He assumed the identity. His only exploit was to hit police substation, with little casualties on both sides.

Kim Il-sung is revered by N. Koreans, because his political charisma make people believe that the myth about him (mostly lies) could be true.

[nuconvert]

Bump

[mikeus_maximus]

"Before we build an unstoppable consensus for demonizing Kim-and it appears that process is well under way in Washington today-a constructive approach would be to explore all the non-military options, including high-level negotiations that might lead to a genuine end to the hostility between the United States and North Korea. That hostility has lasted, after all, for six decades."

What a simplistic load. Sung and Jung have been indoctrinating their people for 60 years about their "destiny" to take back the entire penisula. They built a huge military and nuclear program on the back of that propaganda and a miserable economy. The country needs resources to survive. Jung has likely backed himself into a corner at this point: attack or die. And he would be counting on his increasing nuclear threat to keep the US from interferring. No amount of negotiaton is going to change facts.

[SaltyJoe]

Ping for later.

BTW, I like Pres. Ike's containment policy better than a military strike. The reporter may say that China won't carry our water, but the CCP has supported North Korean Communism from the beginning and will war against anyone entering NK for a "regime change". That is not a small matter for consideration. The other matter is, as Martin stated, the tunnel complexes. Iwo Jima is nothing compared to North Korean tunnel complexes. Their military discipline (and especially SOF forces) are far superior to whatever Iraq had under Saddam. Our US military could handle them alone, but as stated before, the CCP will not leave North Korea alone. They WILL enter the fight.

For the CCP to give up NK, it would be to wear down South Korean, Japanese, and US economics at a time when we will be pressed hardest economically. It's similar to how the Soviets gave up the Eastern Bloc when Moscow couldn't bankroll the economics. What works against Eastern Communism is the demand for wealth and all the ideology that goes along with a free society that can make more wealth than one whose thought is imprisoned. Chaos and aggression will want war. Justice will accept change even if it's a slower pace. As much as I wanted to see explosions, we'll learn soon enough way the late Pope JP#2 was against military action in Iraq.

Thus, I think containment and small "trickle down" manipulations will effect eventual, yet longer lasting changes than a monstrous military strike. So, keep the DMZ, the land mines, the high tech military forces. That keeps the North Koreans from rushing South.

*******Using them as cheap labor OUTSIDE of North Korea would put foreign ideas into their heads and possibly effect changes in North Korea. Sometimes they can only work in China, but that's a start. Do we have enough information concerning Merchant Mariners from former Communist nations? I know a few, and the shipping industry might be an avenue for change...so long as the free world has the upper hand of course. If Communist shipping ruled the waves, the oceans would quickly become pirate infested (as the South China Sea is the apparent example).

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #9

You know what? Ideal solution never works in Korean Peninsula. Any solution involves pitched battles, totally unexpected developments, and hair-raising moments.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #13

We have a complex chess game going on in E. Asia. China vs U.S.. With Japan as U.S.'s sword, and Taiwan as another bargaining chip. The objective is to pressuring China politically, militarily, economically into shutting down lifeline into N. Korea, which would cause collapse of N. Korean regime.

Some acceptable arrangement for post-Kim Jong-il N. Korea may have to be worked out between two countries. Such as what will happened to U.S. troops, whether they could be stationed near Chinese border, what would be the nature of the new regime(pro-China, neutral, pro-American)?

[yoe]

"...because his political charisma make people believe that the myth about him (mostly lies) could be true."

Sounds like the MSM and Socialist wannabees of the Clinton Myths. Greatest sham of the 20th and 21st centuries are the myths, lies and other uncorroborated cock-and-bull propaganda concerning the William Jefferson Clintons...covering up their real crimes against America.

[nw_arizona_granny]

Ping

[Terriergal]

During the famine of the '90s, people really were reduced to eating worms and boiled tree bark.

All America's fault of course. /sarcasm

Today it appears the people are managing somewhat better, although the standard of living overall is still so poor as to send many fleeing across the Chinese border.

Boy, that *is* pretty bad.

As for the way the society is structured, people have been brainwashed, indoctrinated with falsehoods-but it would be a mistake to assume they are miserable simply on that account.

HUH??? Wouldn't that be enough to make anyone miserable? Misery is quite directly affected by the number and size of the lies you believe (and therefore live by). IMO of course.

[Zhangliqun]

Agreed: there is no neat and clean, candy-assed OSHA- or Hans Blix-approved solution, no matter how deeply and passionately the Birkenstock crowd FEEEEEELS there must be because emotions trump facts.

We got on the tiger precisely by trying to seek such candy-assed solutions and sooner or later we have to get off. This is gonna be more like Jimmy Cagney in White Heat. Everybody deal with it...

[AmericanInTokyo]

The level of discussion, argumentation, etc. on NORTH KOREA on these FR threads, in my estimate, is rapidly rising. The more serious problem this becomes, the less we will see silly jokes about North Korean leaders' names and ICBMs, cartoons and other jokes; the more we will have serious discussion on the regime, their current nuke manufacturing capabilities, their economic effort to stay alive, and the issues surrounding how the US can put them asunder once and for all. Bravo for this thread being able to continue in a serious vein for awhile, minus all the silly jokes from people who don't follow North Korea articles in detail.

You and others here are to be commended.