korean unification studies

Is there a long-term US strategy on the Korean peninsula? Sometimes it seems that there is not. Amidst the weak reactions to North Korean provocations, the willingness to put up with South Korean behavior, and the inability to curtail Chinese influence… one has to wonder. But then you hear things like this…

A US policymaker that interviewed stated to me that strategy on the peninsula takes a much longer-term view. This includes:

• Acceptance that North Korea in its current political form will not continue indefinitely;
• Understanding that when North Korea does change, the entire East Asian security balance also changes; and
• Faith in the belief that freedom and democracy are desired by oppressed people’s everywhere.

Well, to tell the truth, I am not so sure about the final one, but then again I come from a land with a rich totalitarian heritage. My interview subject certainly believed that freedom and democracy are universal desires. This faith he believes will ultimately lead to change on the entire Korean peninsula as the people of both states unify, and choose to align with freedom and democracy rather than communism (or what’s left of it) and totalitarianism.

When I asked about freedom and democracy NOW in the North, he stated that even if there were uprisings it is very difficult for anyone to intervene. Just as occurred in Hungary in ‘56. But in the end, when freedom does come, the people will still be thankful of US support, perseverance and the willingness to lead by example, just as the people of Hungary today are some of strongest supporters of the US…

An interesting view… but I am not sure that I am fully convinced…