Speaking of North Korea, the country's jailer leader dictator Kim Jong Il has made yet another agreement regarding his country’s nuclear weapons: he’s agreed to talk about ceasing production of them.
BEIJING-North Korea agreed Monday to stop building nuclear weapons and allow international inspections in exchange for energy aid, economic cooperation and security assurances, a breakthrough that marked a first step toward disarmament after two years of six-nation talks.The Japanese are skeptical, however, as well they should be.The chief U.S. envoy to the talks praised the development as a "win-win situation" and "good agreement for all of us." But he promptly urged Pyongyang to make good on its promises by ending operations at its main nuclear facility at Yongbyon.
"Agreeing to a common document does not mean that the solution to our problems has been found," said Japan's chief envoy, Kenichiro Sasae.Austin Bay is looking further ahead at a probable result of putative weapons inspections.Another Japanese official, who spoke on condition he not be named in order to discuss the issue more freely, noted that there was no common understanding among the participants about the nature of North Korea's nuclear program.
What happens when North Korea finally collapses? South Korea sees Germany’s economic struggles — West Germany absorbed East Germany but the economic and social costs were (are) huge. North Korea is in much worse shape than East Germany. This is why sending North Korea power from South Korea can be viewed as “getting a leg up” on the future. At some point South Korea will have to “re-wire” North Korea. Building generation capacity at the border and running new transmission lines north is a pay-off to Kim Jong Il’s shakedown scam. It’s also preparation for his regime’s collapse. Call it a dicey little game played with a terrorist regime. There is no perfect answer.Considering Li’l Kim’s shenanigans of the past—the promises of 1994 broken--it appears that all parties won’t believe it until they see it.
