[sgtyork]

Big shift in public opinion. Perhaps our presence there won't be seen as negatively.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

(1) Stop giving NK food and medicine

(2) Build a wall along the 38th parallel

(3) Withdraw all U.S. troops there but provide naval and air support

[kingu]

I'd see it as being negative. Half a century of having some other nation guarding your border because you won't do it yourself? Yell yes, I'd be pissed at my government and the government of the troops. Thank you, time for you to go home.

And it is time we leave the Korean peninsula.

[Incorrigible]

Bump

[Axhandle]

Killing people indiscriminately and in large numbers with nuclear weapons is not a nice thing. But it happens to be the most reliable way to minimize the deaths of Americans. If a madman gets a nuclear weapon within range of US forces and expresses the intent to use it on them, then nothing it too extreme to prevent that from occuring. That should go for North Korea, Iran, and whatever regime overthrows Musharraf in Pakistan. It's too bad that no leader in this country will ever have Truman's stomach.

[JasonC]

All good but the article raises a question, which perhaps someone following Korean politics more closely can answer. If the ruling party is now at 10% and the opposition is now at 40%, what is the other half of Korea saying, or for? Because the numbers just don't add up.

[RacerX1128]

The South Koreans have pressed for engagement with North Korea and the Kim Jong-Il regime for decades.

---

Sounds just like the Dems.

[ModelBreaker]

In less than a week since North Korea claimed to have tested a nuclear weapon, public opinion in the South has turned sharply against a South Korean policy of engaging the enemy in the belief it will eventually bring peace on the divided peninsula.

It'll last for a few months. Then they'll be back to hating us. Democracies have the attention span of a gnat and think that wishing on a star is the proper way to set public policy.

[ccmay]

This is good news. The South Koreans' attitude towards the North was a major obstacle to dealing with Kim as he deserves.

The other major obstacle will not change as quickly, unfortunately, and that is the accident of geography that has millions of South Koreans in Seoul living within artillery range of the North. Tough question. They are basically hostages. The North would attack Seoul if we took any action against them, even a naval blockade, or began to evacuate the city.

-ccm

[parisa]

Even President Roh acknowledges that the test has neutered his policy, but that realization comes too late to undo the damage.

Why do we ALWAYS have to wait until it's too late to undo the damage???

[PGalt]

Great editorial from Captain's Quarters. Interesting thread. Thanks.