This is my first time posting on DailyKOS. This is something I’ve been thinking about for the past couple of days, and I’m wondering what other people think about it. I admit, I’m a bleeding heart liberal who probably has a naive sense of idealism for an egalitarian world..but I won’t give up on believing that we can make such a place possible.
I’m largely ignorant on foreign policy, so I’m sure what I am suggesting could have negative implications for Japan/South Korea/China (or maybe not). If this is true, please rip me a new arse in the comments and let me know how wrong I am.
Now, on to my idea:
With NK tensions mounting up, and bellicosity piquing at an all time high... I've had some time to think about a way to approach the North Korean crisis.
I had an idea that I'm sure most people will hate and argue against, but hear me out.
We allow North Korea to build their nukes.
That's right. But there's stipulations.
We also ask Kim Jong-Un to have a multi-tiered discussion with its neighboring countries. In this unilateral talk, what if we propositioned the Kim dynasty thusly: we allow you to build your nukes, but you must also transition towards nuclear energy, supplying North Korea with electricity and bringing your people up to technological par (do an image search for North Korea at night, they don't even have basic electrical infrastructure anymore). We remove some(or all) of his sanctions, but we also force the Kim dymasty to build more universities, education centers, and agricultural hubs in North Korea. We create American cultural centers in North Korea, and North Korean cultural centers in America--all with the intent of teaching each hosting country about the other's worldview, complete with a bipartisan teaching group comprised of both American and North Korean instructors at each institution(I think having 1 American teacher and 1 North Korean teacher working together in these places will promote unity). We offer to help improve North Korea's infrastructure and allow them to weaponize, but we will also require that we are allowed regulatory inspections and safety summits. Essentially, we allow North Korea to flourish by using allied resources. We reduce bellicosity, increase economic prosperity in the region, and have a huge opportunity to end a feud. I think we could have North Korea as an ally, and I think that could improve the global platform historically for the better.
The prospect of North Korea being a nuclear power obviously terrifies almost everyone. North Korea is a nation in its relative infancy helmed by an unstable dynasty, but every country's history is marred with graft, savagery, and brutality during their formulative years. I think North Korea is largely misunderstood and has also been heavily propagandized. We do know that prisoners are brutalized in prisons and labor camps, and everyday citizens are economically suffering in North Korea, so I think leveraging human rights and prosperity against allowing Kim to nuclearize his peninsula could have benefits. First, education is the most important tool in reducing xenophobic barriers and other ideological hostilities stemming from ignorance. Allowing education to seep into North Korea against the nuclear program would have a 'crowd controlling' effect that I think would ultimately REDUCE problems in the region by giving everyday citizens (and government officials) the tools they need to “fish for a lifetime.” Plus, education may lead to an eventual ‘North Korean revolution.’ There’s no need for regime change or any conflict—education will do its work and may eventually bring the country to a more democratic form of rule.
I truly think that the Kim dynasty only cares about helming a nuclear arsenal because it wants to defend itself against what it feels is an imperialistic American military presence (as well as defending itself from any other hostile force it deems anti-DPRK). I mean, look at every country that's ever given up its nukes: Ukraine gave up its nukes, subsequently gets invaded by Putin. There's a couple of other examples as well where denuclearizing a country has then predictably led to an invasion by opposition forces. I think Kim has a ferocious desire to learn from the history of other Communist-era countries and protect his nation from any threat he deems serious.
My biggest conviction as of late has been the North Korean people. Something in my heart aches for these individuals. They're oppressed like almost no other group of people on earth. We have got to do something for them. We have to. I think we can use the current North Korean crisis to not only douse the lit fuse on this escalating conflict-potentiality, but bring North Korean into an allied fold that will improve the lives of nearly 30 million North Koreans and improve regional stability and prosperity.
How could we approach bringing North Korea to the table?
I suggest using a very human approach: Let’s use Jong-Un’s love (as well as the average American and North Korean’s love) of basketball and movies to create a diplomatic vehicle.