5:38AM
South Korea will be "emerging" so long as its foreign and security policies vis-a-vis North Korea remain so patheticaly immature
Friday, July 14, 2006 at 5:38AM ARTICLE: "For South Korea, 'Emerging' Label Can Be a Burden," by Ian McDonald and Karen Richardson, Wall Street Journal, 12 July 2006, p. C1.
South Korea has the 12th largest economy in the world, on par with Canada, a member of the G-8, and yet it's stll considered "emerging" by all indices.
Why?
"One obstacle to an upgrade is the risk of political instability in neighboring North Korea, as evidenced by that country's missile test firings last week."
You want serious Core status, you need to act like a serious Core power, not bury your head in the sand and expect others to carry your weight.
Reader Comments (4)
hmmm....do we really think NK has the will or the ability to threaten the world?
1. it has dated weaponry in general other than a few old missiles. its arsenal is probably of 1970s grade.
2. the only battles it has won by itself was a few battles against the loosely organized SK in 1950, that was accomplished by 2 PLA ethnic Korean divisions (who had been trained by Lin Biao)
3. since 1954 all it could do was terrorist bombing and kindapping, and it has been quiet for a couple decades.
SK was right that NK is a nuisance more than a threat?
NK holds up some serious global change by keeping Asia immature in a political-military way. Under the right circumstances, that still gives us the best chance for a World War on the table.
But instead of taking that threat off the table, we must bow to the South Korean fear of too big of a monetary bill. We spend 54k lives to make SK a reality a half century ago, and they can't be troubled on NK because it will hit their pocket books too much.
Charming deal for us.
So long as that's SK's brave stand, no one will take them seriously as a power. And I really don't think that's a problem, because I really don't think SK wants to be taken seriously. Most people, given the chance, will remain adolescents forever.
It's a bit surreal, taking it all in from the local perspective. If one lived in a vacuum and watched only Arirang News, SK's government-sponsored English network, you'd think that NK with all its 'quirks' are just eccentric behavior by a friendly, well-meaning cousin.
You'd also be led to believe that war with the Evil Japanese is almost imminent, over a couple of worthless rocks in the middle of the Sea of Japan. SK and NK would, of course, be joyfully united against Japan in this.
Hell, there's even a very popular Korean motion picture currently in theaters running along a similar scenario.
Makes you wonder how realistically SK is truly connected to the world out there.
Also makes it easier to understand how Kim keeps the north so clamped down.