The Real Suspect Number 1: North Korea

            Now that the sensation of the Boston Bombing is behind us, we should return to some of the other problems facing our great nation.  North Korea is a good place to start.  The saga of North Korea’s promises, threats, and reneging on deals is laid out in line-by-line, excruciating detail on the Arms Control Association’s website that can be found at:  http://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/dprkchron

What that website demonstrates (if you have the time to read all of it) is that the North Korean’s have never negotiated in good faith.  They have consistently made promises to get the United States to provide them with food aid, nuclear plant development, and economic aid – only to later back out of their promises.

The United States has bent over backwards in multiple attempts to bring the North Korea regime into the world community of peaceful nations.  Each attempt has been thwarted by a regime that is so totally incompetent that its people are starving while they maintain one of the largest armies in the world.  North Korea maintains a standing army of 1.1M.  Compare that against the United States that maintains a standing army of 500K.  Now consider the fact that the United States has a population of 330M whereas the population of North Korea is 25M.

The North Korean’s have repeatedly used “negotiations” to gain food and economic aid in order to maintain their ongoing, incompetent management of a failing society.  They have gone too far.  It is time that the world stops the insanity of negotiating with a regime that only takes what it can get with a promise and then never delivers on their promises.

The world is a crazy place.  On Sunday the New York Times reported that Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the United States is pledging $123 million to fund the Syrian rebels.  The Sunday New York Times also reported that President Obama and President Putin of Russia had a congenial phone call regarding participation on international terrorism prevention (this story was related to the Russian ties of the Boston terrorists).  This is the same Russia that is arming the Syrian government and propping up the Syrian regime that we are providing millions of dollars to bring down.  However, President Obama and President Putin can hold a congenial phone conversation regarding terrorism as if we are on the same team.

The same craziness exists in our relationship with China.  We love the Chinese for lending us about $2 trillion so that we can purchase the products made in their factories using trade secretes that the Chinese stole from our businesses.  We are constantly courting the Chinese to be better trade partners.  At the same time, the Chinese are propping up the North Korean regime because the Chinese do not want the US army that is parked in South Korea to be in North Korea on the border with China.  Yes, the world is a crazy place.

Let us think about the North Korean problem from a common sense viewpoint.  The United States does not want North Korea to expand its nuclear arsenal, nor does it want North Korea to further develop missile technology that could deliver one of their nuclear bombs to the shores of the United States.  China does not want the US army in their back entrance way.  China also wants to avoid refugees streaming into China due to the collapse of the North Korean economy, which is imminent.  The North Korean leaders want money and power.  It is a shame that the North Korean leaders cannot be bought with money alone – we could do that quickly.  However, people with egos big enough to maintain a totalitarian society for as long as the North Korean’s have do it for more than money – they love the ego trip the power gives them.

Okay, we need to strike a deal with China (not North Korea) to get this problem solved.  The Chinese love the strong economy of South Korea.  It provides the Chinese with a strong market where they can sell their goods.  North Korea on the other hand, is a drain on China.  China has to supply North Korea with free oil just to keep them afloat (and to prevent a wave of refugees into China).

The deal with China is simple:  we agree that we will (based on conditions) never move our military North of the current DMZ and, we will provide huge economic assistance to develop the North Korean economy.  Both we and China put up enough money to buy off the North Korean leaders and China finds places of status for Kim Jong-un and his top military leaders (within China’s government, state-run businesses, and/or military).  South Korea and North Korea are reunited with the government of South Korea assimilating the people of North Korea much the same way that West Germany assimilated the people of East Germany at the end of the cold war.

We get rid of the nuclear threat and bad role model for the rest of the world that North Korea has become.  The Chinese get a larger market to sell to (as the new Korea becomes even more of a consumer market than South Korea is alone).  The refugees remain in North Korea due to the promise of a better future.  And, more importantly, the poor people of North Korea gain freedom and economic opportunity that their dictators have denied them for years.

The conditions we set for never moving our military North of the DMZ are simple: China signs a peace treaty with the new Korea that includes China’s recognition of the new Korea as a sovereign state and the Chinese do not interfere with the new Korea.  Once this occurs, the United States provides humanitarian relief to the people of North Korea and our businesses take on the effort of developing the economy along with the businesses of South Korea.

No more negotiations with North Korea.  It is time for three-party negotiations: the United States, China, and South Korea. 

Goodbye Kim Jong-un.