Posted on 05/10/2006 3:32:58 PM PDT by Enchante
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea's president said he plans to make many concessions to communist North Korea and provide it with unconditional aid in an effort to build trust, his office said Wednesday. Roh Moo-hyun made the announcement as his predecessor, Kim Dae-jung, prepared to visit the North to meet with its leader, Kim Jong Il, in hopes that the trip might lead to a breakthrough in stalled six-nation talks on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. "I'm going to make a lot of concessions (to North Korea)," Roh told South Korean residents during a visit to Mongolia on Tuesday, according to a transcript provided by the presidential office. "I'm going to provide institutional and material aid without conditions," he said. Roh said the South, which is wealthier and has a stronger military, should make concessions to dispel the mistrust that still exists between the two neighbors more than five decades after the bloody 1950-53 Korean war. Roh's comments were "an expression of will that the (South Korean) government should play a more active role in finding a breakthrough on the current stalled situation," Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok told reporters Wednesday.
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If South Korea wants to follow the path of national suicide we will quickly reach the point at which we have to re-assess our entire relationship.
Interesting negotiation strategy. Is Kim Dae Jung an NK intelligence asset or do they have awakward photos of him?
Ruh-Roh....he'll regret that when all of the materials go to the NK armed forces. Roh vs. Aid wasn't a very good decision, either....
Our military policy in Korea since the war ended has been to leave a large force of troops there at the DMV as a "tripwire." In other words, they are a guarantee we will not stay out if the North Koreans attack again because they are essentially acting as hostages.
Bush suggested a few years back that they should be repositioned, so they would be less at risk if a new hot war started there over N. Korea's nukes. I haven't heard a thing since about whether the plan has been implemented.
But one thing is for sure. We can't afford to leave our troops exposed like that if the South Koreans don't intend to remain our allies. They are far too vulnerable, especially if they remain at the DMV.
DMZ.
Yes, it is dangerous there. They could be buried in paperwork or die of boredom in long lines.
;-)
Great. Whatever. Can we get out of Korea now?
SK is strategically very important, but without a change of government there we are just biding our time. Nothing can be accomplished with this government.
My brother studied and taught in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and is now in South Korea. Apparently, most South Koreans think of the North as their blood brothers and while not loving them, don't hate them.
I realize that, but rational people (if there still are some in S. Korea) would understand that their FEELINGS toward their brothers and sisters in N. Korea should have NOTHING to do with rational policies aimed at preventing N. Korea from repeating its previous lunacies on a more horrific scale. I don't care if they hate them or not.... most Brits before WWII did not 'hate' Germans (nor did most of the countries invaded by Hitler 'hate' all Germans, although there were certainly some animosities). If the 20th century should have taught us anything it's that warm and fuzzy feelings by peace-loving peoples has nothing to do with stopping decisions by depraved dictators to go to war.
I'm not saying that they're justified. That's just how they think. My brother has been pretty much everywhere and he said that they weren't rational in their attitude. They blindly had -what's the word for it?- a sense of brotherhood with them and didn't believe they'd attack or want to fight.
Good-- that should mean they will now simply solve their own problems and we need not spend any more money or personel efforts on the Korean situation. The South knows better how to deal with the North--so its all theirs.
All you nay-sayers!
Something like this could be the final resolution to this problem, if:
It is publicised in NK, and the people finally realize that their might possibly be a future for them and their children, they could stop eating dirt.
I applaud the effort, but once widely publicised, bring in Paladin -
Have Gun, Will Travel
sounds like a plan, were not wanted lets get out, let them figure it out on there own, never could see any reason when i was there years ago.
Sounds like Roh is getting ronrery too.
I would imagine a fitting analogy would be to envision an Oklahoma split into two with one half Communist and the otehr half as it is. Both are fellow Americans, you even have plenty of your cousins, school friends, and even your grandparents in the Communist Oklahoma. It would be natural (though not sensible) to believe that if you prod the Communist Oklahoman regime with material aids and encouragements enough, its leaders would be so moved as to abandon the Communist tyranny, and you would have thought the leaders of Communist Oklahoma would be in good faith to transfer all the aids to the ordinary peasants.
Now imagine Britain has security guarantee with the US at non-Communist Oklahoma to help defend it against Communist Oklahoma. The leaders of Communist Oklahoma incessantly broadcasts views that "We are all Americans! The British are stinkin' foreigners!" and some people would start to believe the British aren't their friends and we-should-unite-all-Americans above everyone else.
This sums up the situation in Korean Peninsula is how they come up with the insane aid-the-North programme.
Feeding the North Korean military.
Tremendously stupid!
They seem too mild to me. Really really really idiotically stupid.
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