Georgetown University's Dr. Victor Cha speaks to West Point cadets and faculty about the unique challenges posed by North Korea under the regime of Kim Jong-Un.
"These alliances (between the ROK and the USA) go much deeper than small disagreements over policy." Insightful, informative, and even composed! Too bad he was rejected by the White House :( He would surely have become an excellent ambassador.
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Seems rather obvious to me that the American chosen attitude is entirely dumbed down to finding a PEACEFUL solution. They could offer a olive branch offer of 1000 semi trucks a month of agricultural machinery and medical supplies and food for the benefit of the people and this in turn would GREATLY IMPROVE the grass roots feeling of the people on the ground. Do this for a year and it would do more to turn things around than you would ever believe.
Very interesting talk. I think the North Koreans are well aided in their attempts to decouple the security of South Korea but the inane policies of Japan (and to some extent the US) in education of their citizens, and awareness of and of appreciation of the outside world. If Japan ends up with even more of a totally self-centered population only concerned about whatever the media feeds them, there is little chance of a government being able to make decisions for area security not directly tied to the particular nationalistic topic of the day.
Except he had no idea why the US would attack NKorea. Was he asleep during Bush's Axis of Evil speech? The guy is fundamentally clueless on US relations with NKorea.
It seems so slight to end sayting path dependant. the policy minded have destroyed our soft power at the age where media and soft power are the most critical and the American blindness to foreign disdain at radicalized presumptive behaviors. This guy was so underutilized like waiting for sanctions to over ripen and then blow all leverage when timely effort could have done so much
As it is well known in his circles, Cha is a foreign policy hawk. His premises and presumptions all start and end with a NKorea that is "predatory", aggressive and belligerent. However, to anyone who is objective and understands the history of Korea, NKorea didn't just emerge from the ground by itself. It was created by the US after WWII, reinforced through the Korean War, and maintained through a policy of hostility by every US administration since the 1950s. While relations with old communist foes like China, Russia and Vietnam have improved through normalization and detente, it is only NKorea that remains Washington's perennial punching bag. Unfortunately, America's policy towards NKorea is an anachronism that continues because of Washington's geopolitical ambitions in NE Asia. In this respect, both Koreas are pawns of US geopolitics in the region and have been for a century. Cha outlines 4 policy options for Washington: Military, sanctions, working with China and diplomacy. Working with China is a red herring because NKorea is not a problem of China's making. It is a problem created by Washington. The military and sanctions options are well known and tried. However, diplomacy is an option that Washington has never seriously pursued. Despite endless requests for a peace treaty and diplomatic normalization from the NKorean side, it is rebuffed by Washington every time. Notwithstanding the understanding that "security" is a paramount NKorean concern, it seems Cha dismisses it as a ridiculous fear by a paranoid regime. Cha seems deeply ignorant of America's belligerence in the region as well as the world. Has he forgotten Bush's Axis of Evil speech and the assertion of America's right of preemptive invasion? Evidently, Cha is not aware of or has forgotten America's history of invasions, coups, wars and regime changes throughout the world. But to students of history, America is anything but a peaceful country. It is a warmongering state that is currently bombing at least 7 countries with military bases around the world numbering in the thousands. It has never been a "status quo" power (as Cha put it), but a "predatory state". Its history of expansion and predation goes back to its founding and continues to this very day. Cha contends that NKorea is a provocative regime. He says it lobs missiles off the coast of Japan. But Cha doesn't tell us that NKorea lobs missiles in response to US war exercises that include nuke capable B2s, stealth bombers and offensive regime change exercises. America's military exercises off NKorea's borders are the largest in the world. Like most Americans, Cha is blind to Washington's own aggressions and provocations. If America truly wants peace, maybe it should consider dialing down its own rhetoric and aggressive behaviors. Maybe it should consider pursuing permanent peace. Maybe, god forbid, even concluding a peace treaty with NKorea to end the Korean War.
Bad propaganda. NKorea exists because it was Washington that divided Korea at the conclusion of WWII. No division. No NKorea. This was the first sin. Many more followed. America came as liberators, divided the country at the 38th parallel despite widespread protestations, and then proceeded to occupy the South for now over 70 years and turn it into a military outpost. Soviets did not deny the Korean people democratic elections. They opposed a rigged UN elections dominated by the US and its lackeys that ushered in a carpetbagger from the US. Rhee won the democratic vote in elections supervised by a UN commission, but even the SKoreans hated Rhee. According to some members of UNTCOK, "the outcome of the elections was a foregone conclusion".
You claim that the US has never seriously pursued diplomacy - what about Jimmy Carters visits and Clintons visit to the country? Were those not at the very least a show of good faith?... Regarding Bush "axis of evil" comments, as you well know that comment was made in 2001, during this time NK was finally on the rebound from a completely unnecessary man made famine purpetrated by the countries regime on its own people for the better part of the 90s.... Keep in mind during this time the world food program (whos largest financial contributer BY FAR some years more then all othee countries combined) , red cross and other organizations were begging to help but the regime would not have it (well they were willing to take the food but they could not be counted on to dole it out by need, as in the past they were known to simply warehouse food for the elite class or even worse has been known to re brand and SELL world food program donations of grain and corn.. In fact the UN was able to gain access to illict markets operated by NK people, underground free markets basically, and food stuffs that were still in burlap sacks clearly marked with World Food Program branding...available for cash.... Food that ultimately was meant to be freely given to the NK people in need, food that the American government largely paid for.... This was not an isolated practise done by a few bad apples but is the defacto way the regime does business... And thus the WFP refused to simply hand over the food to the government of DPRK any longer as it simply was not changing a damn thing, the people in need continued to starve..... The USA is not perfect, it has pulled alot of shady shit.... But what the Kim regime does IS evil.... Who lets thier own people starve? Needlessly?with food coming in by the tonne for FREE.... And rather then disperse to the starving, as donators intended and as NK Govt said they would do....but they just cant, over and over and over- they sell it, ultimately to pay for thier own war machine.... Im sorry but the kim regime NEEDS to be changed!
Orlando Pelletier _"You claim that the US has never seriously pursued diplomacy - what about Jimmy Carters visits and Clintons visit to the country? Were those not at the very least a show of good faith?"_ It seemed to start well but Congress ultimately wasn't behind it. And Bush eventually threw it in the trash bin. _"man made famine purpetrated by the countries regime on its own people for the better part of the 90s"_ Really? It had nothing to do with natural disasters, the weather, poor harvest, the fall of the USSR? The NK regime intentionally wanted to starve its own people? _"re brand and SELL world food program donations of grain and corn"_ Right... because bags of corn sell for so much on the open market. The NK government was desperate for a few bucks. _"This was not an isolated practise done by a few bad apples but is the defacto way the regime does business"_ Maybe. Maybe not. Who cares, frankly. The bigger question is what we're doing to help or harm the NKorean people. Is American policy of hostility, sanctions and isolation encouraging NKorea to join the international community? Or are we deliberately forcing NKorea into a corner and keeping it there? _"The USA is not perfect, it has pulled alot of shady shit.... But what the Kim regime does IS evil"_ Really? Let's pile up the dead bodies over the past 20 years from both regimes. Which pile is bigger? Who is more responsible for death, chaos and destruction around the world -- the US or NKorea? _"Who lets thier own people starve?"_ In your moral equation, starving your own people is worse than starving other people? When NKorea can't feed its own people, that's terrible. But when the US destroys societies and people die, that's less terrible? _"Im sorry but the kim regime NEEDS to be changed!"_ The Kim regime was effectively changed when KJU took over. Did the US extend an olive branch? Feelers to find out where the new regime was at? No. NKorea isn't about NKorea. It's about US interests and our pursuit of hegemony in NE Asia.
Chase Eckland exactly.... The "founder" of NK may as well be Stalin more accurately, not the original Kim.......lol @ this nonsense about the Soviets not willing to stand for a "rigged" UN supervised election.... You guys do relize it was fuckin Stalin running Russia at the time right? Its was simply one mass murdering ego maniac dictator creating another in a nieghboring country, its no suprize Kim il Sung regime turned out like it did.... Lol again at the thought of joseph stalins administration giving two fucks about free elections.... Lmao...the poor bastards in stalins camp were too busy trying to stay alive themselves and avoid being purged, they were under extreme duress! Lol trust me that administration had its own worries they weren't giving much of a fuck about NK one way or another, in fact kim il sung resented Stalin in the end as the soviets contributions to Korean war fell far below what kim was promised.... He was never supplied with enough manpower to regain lost ground after a considerable early lead.... He was given just enough men and firepower to ensure a pro - commie buffer zone around Chinese/Russia border..and he was lucky to get that!!! ... Better to let kim il sung deal with the headaches of constant yankie presence on Kims borders rather then thier own!
