North Korea Complains About Rice Delay
by Richardson ~ May 31st, 2007. Filed under: Diplomacy, Engagement, Hunger & Famine, Korean Politics, Nuclear Proliferation.The deadline for North Korea to shutdown the Yongbyon nuclear reactor passed over six weeks ago, yet the North Korean negotiators had the gall to complain about a delay in rice aid:
North Korea’s Chief Cabinet Councilor Kwon Ho Ung told South Korea’s Unification Minister Lee Jae Joung that the South has failed to implement an agreement reached between the two sides, Ko Gyoung Bin told reporters.
Kwon and Lee are their governments’ chief delegates to the 21st ministerial talks between the two Koreas that began Wednesday and are scheduled to end Friday.
In response, Lee cited “various difficult circumstances” that prompted the South’s decision on rice aid to the North, adding the South’s position is to “faithfully carry out the agreement” on rice aid.
I’d guess those, “various difficult circumstances” would include the nuclear reactor still running and no IAEA inspectors in North Korea!
May 31st, 2007 at 7:33 pm
I had a feeling the reactors would not stop, and the IAEA would be delayed for as long as possible, if not allowed at all for a number of lame excuses. The regime will not stop what they are doing, will continue to thumb noses at the interntional community and continue to have their own people pay the price.
Also, why does it matter if the aid gets there anyway? The rice will be re-sold on the black market and the people who need it the most will starve anyway (I am sure you have seen Children Of The Secret State), and whoever buys the rice will only pay for Kim’s next iPod.
As you may have seen in my previous replies, I am seriously hoping a change in the regime, but there are so many complex factors in a change let alone a reunification. In my mind, a change will only happen once the regime collapses (which economically it has), then eventual reunification once the mess left by the former regime is fixed (and that can take years if not decades). Lastly, In my opinion, I do not see a “soft” collapse either. As with the previous post you made, if others are openly defying the Kim, then yes, it appears to me the grip on power is slipping.
I happen to believe this is true for the following reason. The increased amount of outside information getting leaked in and out of the country. The more people know they have been lied to, the more people will opnely revolt or reject what have been fed to them for half a century. As you know, the propaganda machine has exploited ancient cultural traditons.
Now I have gone off a tangent here, but one thing is clear. the reckless policies that are taking place only shows me the increasing desperation for the hold on power, and while total collapse is not in the immediate future or too opaque to the outside world, it is clear the seeds of collapse were planted in the mid 90’s.
June 1st, 2007 at 2:07 pm
I also thought there would be some delay, at least until the funds were released as agreed (not in the 13 Feb deal but in a sidebar deal), but didn’t anticipate the added demand of the international monetary system. Unanticipated yet unsurprising, and I fully expect similar delays in the second phase of the agreement, should we ever arrive there. This fits in with the notion of, “Strategic Disengagement.”
Probably most of the rice would reach the elite and military, and some might be sold outside North Korea, some sold in North Korea, and some likely would reach a few of the intended recipients. Maybe.
Regime change is the only thing that will help the North Korean people, and chances for a soft landing passed long ago. The sooner the better, as infrastructure in North Korea isn’t getting any better, will cost several times as much (probably) for South Korea to pay for it the way they are now by paying for the privilege of paying for the upgrades, and not to mention all the people in gulags and suffering from malnutrition/starvation in the mean time.
I’d hoped the Bush administration was setting North Korea up with the 13 February deal, and that still may be the case, but it does seem a bit more remote.