This article by Professor Hong Sung Ki of Ajou University further demonstrates the failure of the Sunshine Policy and how giving economic aid to the Kim regime does nothing to help the North Korean people or reform their economy. I have said for years that the Kim regime will never give up their nuclear weapons or commit to Chinese style economic reforms because it would threaten the stability of the regime and Professor Hong also agrees with this assessment. I highly recommend reading the whole thing, but here are Professor Hong’s key points:
President Park’s July 1st, 2015 suggestion that steps towards nuclear disarmament be traded for infra development in North Korea’s SEZs certainly fits within the conservative party’s mold. But these tactics have continually failed in the past and we have no expectation that things will change for the better in the future. Once the North gets rid of their nuclear capabilities, they know that the South and the world at large will be able to simply ignore them.
In this light, North Korea really does not need our economic assistance at the moment. As we have seen from Jang Hyeong Soo’s paper, the North is skilled at bringing in and retaining foreign currency, which it can use to put out any economic fires should they arise. The real explanation for their economic depravity is hidden within the nature of the regime itself. The upper elite feed off the misery and suffering of the common citizens. Without this oppression, they would not long be able to retain their positions of authority. For these reasons, North Korea has an incentive to continue antagonistic behaviors on the world stage in order to get attention. South Korean presidents have a one term (five year) limit, which gives them little time to make progress in the face of such antagonism. North Korea is the only winner in this game of chicken, of provocation and aid solicitation. That’s why South Korea’s policies have been so inept at dealing with the Kim Dynasty up to this point.
South Korea should respond in kind to the North’s antagonistic behaviors. South Korea needs to continue the legal and large scale introduction of foreign ideas and information into North Korea while simultaneously pressuring the regime to disarm their nukes. It’s time to stop looking at the North as a little brother in need of economic assistance. Now is the time to look for the regime’s breaking point in order to stop the horrors that they regularly commit on their people in order to retain their authority. The time has come for a fundamental shift in policies regarding North Korea. Considering the fact that the North will never willingly throw away their nuclear capabilities, the South needs to develop a system of political and military counter measures in tandem with a new diplomatic approach. [Daily NK]
Read the whole thing at the link.
