Sunday, March 9, 2008

STFU? No, no, no...DPRK, speak up and "play" nice.

Yeah! Finally, the Korean news scene is starting to perk up a bit. I'm sick of talking about this.

It looks like the folks up north are giving Lee Myung-bak and his new government the cold shoulder.

N.Korea Starts Denouncing New Seoul Gov't

North Korea has recently started a rhetorical offensive on South Korea’s new, conservative government, apparently after completing its assessment of the just-inaugurated Lee Myung-bak administration. There had been no mention of Lee’s election in the official media, prompting observers to think that the North was exercising mature restraint. But since early this month, a string of statements in the North Korean media have slammed South Korea, pegging their commentary on annual South Korea-U.S. joint military exercise and Seoul’s reference at the UN to the North’s dismal human rights record.

Has North Korea given up its hope that it can work with the Lee administration, or is this just another example of the familiar brinkmanship?


A U.S. Marine uses his wireless telegraph set as a U.S. Marine helicopter readies to land during a combined arms live fire exercise at Rodriguez Range in Pocheon, north of Seoul on Saturday. About 27,000 American troops, the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier, and an undisclosed number of South Korean soldiers were participating in the drills, dubbed Key Resolve and Foal Eagle, according to the U.S. and South Korean militaries. /AP
Er, "given up its hope"? Lee Myung-bak JUST took office. They haven't given him a chance.

Yes, it's going to be much harder as Lee isn't going to play the games that a more liberal head of state would. But this hard-line error is the same mistake George W. Bush made regarding North Korea. They should know the reaction it will get.

Why not play the game, see what you get, and then roll it back if you see it's not going to get you much?

It's disappointing to see the same tired Cold War style diplomacy rolled out, again.

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