North Korea punching a gift horse in the mouth…. March 30, 2008
It amazes me the arrogance of North Korea. First off, it amazes me that North Korea has arrogance. What does it have to be arrogant about? Ok, so it has nuclear weapons. But it certainly does not have a robust economy. Nor doesi t have world presence.
So it astounds me that North Korea continues to make threats against South Korea. Especially after the recent aid South korea gave North Korea to help with flooding in the north. South Korea appearrs to be quite charitable to North Korea and yet that is not enough for North Korea to mellow out.
It would not be in North Korea’s best interest to annihilate South Korea. To do that, would cut off any money they are receiving and it would come back to hurt them more. Furthermore, South Korea really shouldn’t give any more money to North Korea. THe north appears to be so foolish as to spend the aid money on nuclear weapons rather than on food for its people.
If North Korea was a relative of mine that I kept inviting for dinner out of the goodness of my heart, and not only did it keep declining my offer but threatening violence, not only would I stop issuing invitations, I would ignore them all together.
It is evident from this blog entry that there is quite a bit you don’t understand about this issue. The situation between North and South Korea is very complex. The North did once have a huge economic presence and a totalitarian leader will never yield what he so absolutely controls, even in the face of an economic standstill. The fact that Kim Jong-il insists on pushing forward a nuclear program is evidence enough of this.
Of course they should be feeding (or trying to feed) their people but when it comes right down to it, they are not. When the guise of political pressure is used to cut aid, regardless of how poorly it was previously being distributed, more people will starve.
I’m just saying that the way things are being done politically represents a flagrant misunderstanding of the unfaltering “Juche” philosophy of the North (one of self reliance). Innocent people, thoroughly indoctrinated from birth, continue to suffer because of a series of diplomatic failures spanning 53 years. The North will never admit it is wrong about anything. They may be greedy and horribly unethical, sporting one of the worst human rights records in the world, but they are not fools.