Kofi Annan a Hardliner on North Korea?

What is the world coming to when Kofi Annan is the biggest hardliner outside of the US, against North Korea?:

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday said North Korea must be held to account for the suffering and rage of people it kidnapped and the anxiety of families who never discovered what happened to their loved ones. He called on the North to return every one of those it abducted in its bizarre campaign in the 1970s and 80s.

The secretary-general, who arrived here on Sunday, was speaking at a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon. He condemned all abductions for whatever reason.

So let me get this right Kim Jong-li should be held to account for kidnapping citizens from multiple countries, but not held to account for starving and imprisoning in gulags his own people? Sorry I didn’t buy anything the UN said before the Iraq War and I’m not buying it now. However, sadly this is still the strongest statements I have heard any governmental body other than the US say about North Korea. What an interesting world we live in when movie and rock stars hold protests and advocate for the suffering of hundreds of thousands in Sudan while millions have perished and will continue to perish in North Korea and no one, especially the UN, cares.

So what else did Kofi have to say about Northeast Asia:

Turning to historical differences that are pitting Japan against the regional victims of its past aggression, Annan recommended Europe as a model for resolution of conflicts. He said Europe had a similar experience but was now moving to a union of 25 countries.

I can’t imagine in my life time Northeast Asia coming together into some kind of European Union type of government. These people don’t like each other and it has been this way for centuries and won’t change any time soon if the current Dokdo crisis is a barometer of the animosity that continues to simmer in this area of the world.

Finally here is something else Kofi said on his trip to Korea that made me chuckle:

Earlier, in an address to students at Seoul National University, the UN chief said he had witnessed the dynamic force of Korea’s youth, whom he called a ¿remarkable¿ group. He predicted a bright future for Korea given the healthy outlook of its younger generation.

I guess he hasn’t seen what this “remarkable” younger generation has been up to lately:

Yeah, remarkable.