Tongil Korea

Let’s think about some silly talks and vain efforts with regard to north Korea after reading the following story:

Bill Clinton says Kim Jong-il is healthy, in command
BY HWANG DOO HYONG

Washington — North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is healthier than many people thought and clearly in command of state affairs, former U.S. President Bill Clinton has said.

In the first description of the health of Kim Jong-il since his three-hour meeting with the reclusive North Korean leader early last month, Clinton said in an interview with CNN’s Larry King Live Monday, “I found him alert, in better health than most people thought, and clearly in command of the situation and clearly interested in whether there was some positive outcomes, more positive than the ones that are generated by their policies today.”

Clinton met with Kim Jong-il for more than three hours to win the release of two American journalists who were detained in Pyongyang for months for illegal entry on a reporting tour, as well as to discuss other issues of mutual concern, including the North’s nuclear weapons ambitions.

Clinton’s Pyongyang trip appears to have terminated suspicions over the health of the reclusive leader amid reports he had begun the process to cede power to his third and youngest son, Jong-un, after apparently suffering a stroke in the summer of last year.

Kim’s health failure has been often cited for the North’s provocations early this year, including its second nuclear test and a barrage of missile and rocket tests, only to invite international sanctions.

A possible regime collapse has since been a topic of discussion.

In another interview with NBC’s “Today” show Tuesday, Clinton said Kim Jong-il released the journalists to help enhance bilateral ties after the North’s earlier provocations, probably related to his failing health and an ensuing succession scenario.

“It’s obvious that the leader, Kim Jong-il, having gone through a period where they were dealing with a succession crisis and questions about his health, had reached the point where he thought he knew that these young women — even though they have admitted they crossed very briefly into a very tiny portion of North Korea on the Chinese border — had no business going to prison for 12 years and that there was way more down side than up side there,” he said.

U.S. President Barack Obama said Sunday, “I think President Clinton’s assessment was that (Kim Jong-il is) pretty healthy and in control. There’s no doubt that this is somebody who, you know, I think for a while people thought was slipping away. He’s reasserted himself. He was more concerned about succession when he was sick, maybe less so now that he’s well.”

Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, however, was still cautious Monday, when he stressed the need for international cooperation in coping with possible contingencies.

“We’ve agreed privately among several of states that we need very close coordination and dialogue about developments inside North Korea,” Campbell said. “It’s an uncertain time. We appear to be witnessing some issues associated with future transition, uncertain health of Kim Jong-il. So, quiet dialogue and discussion about developments there is essential.”

Adm. Timothy Keating, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, said in July that the U.S. was “prepared to execute a wide range of options” to cope with any contingency in North Korea in the event of the death of the ailing leader.

A U.S. government team is also examining several scenarios, including “regime collapse in North Korea,” for inclusion in the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review, the first to be released under the Obama administration, according to a report of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The U.S. has also reached out to China, but the Beijing government refused to discuss the possibility of a regime change or collapse in the North, apparently to avoid provoking its closest communist ally.

Source: Yonhap News – September 22, 2009

Why I value them at “silly” and “vain” is that none has stopped the north Korean nuclearization. They rather precipitated it under their gaudy splendors. It is a paradoxical fruit of the Cold War policy anachronistically applied to north Korea in the post-Cold War era. Strange as it may sound, the US has treated the DPRK as super power like the USSR.

Implication of Panetta’s remarks

Changing attitude of the US results from the north Korean nuclear test. It is CIA Director Leon Panetta that confirmed the point.

What we are seeing is that the north Korean nuclearization will bring about peace accord between north Korea and the US ironically. It has become a powerful means of canceling the supremacy of the US.

Although international situation grows acute, the political community of south Korea does not sense it at all. This is the problem.

Source: Plus Korea (ko) – September 22, 2009