Toppling Kim Jong Il

I think by all means the U.S. should invade North Korea, not so much out of fear the Chinese, or even Russians, if not the South Koreans, might enter the conflict. It's really in the hope that somebody, anybody, will also enter the fray. You would think the Chinese would enter, just like last time, but perhaps the Russians might send troops. You would hope the South Koreans might be suckered into it. The plan would be to surrender to the first third party who enters the conflict. If no one else enters, you would just have to finish the job. Just promise everyone immunity. Since anyone would be better than the current regime, there's nothing to be concerned about there as well.

If thier is a way to smuggle small prtable radios into NK, they should-and could do it. Then the regime can be exposed for wat it is. We gave out radios in Iraq, and pre-war we even hijacked thier TV programs. INFORMATION is the post potent weapon we posess. After that, well, its gonna be all fire and brimstone if the NK's cross the line.

Mr. Palmer- as "these people" starve to death, they are telling themselves/being told that the responsibility for their suffering lies squarely on the shoulders of the U.S. and our allies. The question we should be asking ourselves is "What can we do to ease the troubles of North Koreans and thus convince them that we are not the enemy?" We must make them see that we don't want to push them around and only wish to see them prosper as a healthy part of the inernational community. This, as Mr. Lankov has rightly pointed out, will accelerate the removal from power of a group of people more interested in keeping the world on its toes than seeing to the needs of its own population.

Why are we afraid of a country that is slowly starving to death? These people are too weak to rule themselves let alone anyone else

How about carper bombing them with preprogrammed ipods?

Uh, let's see. We can no longer afford to send our own children to college on scholarship, so why should we send North Korean children? And if memory serves, we already tried a military solution with North Korea. It didn't work in 1950, why should we believe it will work now?

But I have to wonder - is North Korea truly a threat? Seems to me that all of their attempts at actually making and firing a nuclear weapon have failed, and failed spectacularly. And if they somehow manage to figure out how to (a) make one and (b) actually fire one, who will be their most likely target? Not us, we're too far away. So who would North Korea bomb, IF they could?

Russia? China? Japan? None of them will stand still for that, and North Korea knows it.

Rather than get ourselves in a lather over a threat that doesn't really exist, we would do better to just ignore them. They will implode eventually, all by themselves, without our help.

And really, don't we have more important things on our plate right now that need our attention, like figuring out how to send our own kids to college?

The reason we are in this mess is because W. also thought that a military solution was "unthinkable" (Cheney told him so), and that was even before they had nukes. But the situation remains the same: a military solution is unthinkable only by our side. The only difference now is that the costs have gone up, and will continue to go up, until it happens.

Not a great strategy. The beneficiaries of such a policy would likely be the children of the ruling class who have a vested interest in keeping the proletariats in the dark. At one time I believed in the indomitable spirt of the human being, that is, until I read about North Korea. As I am one who does not criticize a strategy without presenting an alternative, here is one. South Korea and Japan must nuclearize and tighten their defenses and start shouldering most of the responsibility for their own security. Cease all negotiations and let this come to a head.

wishful thinking.

I think the one thing that wasn't discussed in this article and a very relevant is the economic effect a regime change would have on the region. If the per capita wage ratio is indeed 20:1 think of the economic repercussions a mass exodus of north koreans seeking better paying jobs to south korea and china would do to both economies and ultimatly the global economy. The unification of germany had a wage ratio of something like 5:1 and it almost crippled west germany ( one of the most economically sophisticated and wealthy countries in the world). South Korea, although it is the 11th most developed country in the world via GDP, would be completed ruined by a collapse of Kim Jong Ils regime. I believe a gradual change supplemented with foriegn aid would probably be the most viable solution.

It's interesting how Mr. Lankov alternates among his numerous articles and interviews, statements declaring that reports about what's goes on inside DPRK are almost entirely built on speculation with a rhetorical insistence that he understands just how to reverse North Korea's cooperation with the West and "change the North Koreans themselves." He's impressively fluent on the Koreas and related subjects, but his voice in these matters nonetheless rings hollow. However, as has been pointed out, at least he's offered an alternative to straight out military aggression toward a sovereign nation.

This is the first time ever that I have read an article that is not propagating war against a sovereign nation in Newsweek. Is there something wrong with Newsweek?

Anyway we should have this kind of approach much earlier. The US must start to realise that it is not time for bombings anymore. The world would have been safer for everybody and terrorism would not have existed if the US had been using the very simple approach at stipulated in the article. It would also cost less. Then the US must learn to buy oil like everybody else.

The argument that North Korea will not initiate Chinese (or Vietnamese) style reforms because of the existence of a free South Korea across the border is a false one. As the article later says, there is growing awareness of the riches in the South, and they are fully aware of how poor they are, as anyone would if the people around them are starving to death. This awareness does not make North Koreans any less fearful of the authorities. The North Korean government actually no longer use the myth of their relative prosperity compared to the South to legitimise their regime, for these very reasons. They rely on a hyped-up version of the Korean notion of loyalty to the fatherland, a seige mentality, a fierce nationalism, and the personality cults of KIS and KJI.
On the missile/satellite launch, we should also consider the important internal factors as well as the external factors. I suspect this launch has a lot to do with boosting KJI's position and credibility at a time when there are concerns over his health and questions about succesion.
I wholeheartedly agree on the importance of funding North Korean students to study in America, Europe, and even China and Vietnam, so they are exposed to international norms and become the next generation of reformist leaders.
North Korea actually makes efforts to encourage cultural diplomacy and there won't be barriers on their part to let their students study abroad (temporarily). They have shown great interest in this in the past. It is a matter of political will in the West to make the funds available for this kind of long-term project.

The argument that North Korea will not initiate Chinese (or Vietnamese) style reforms because of the existence of a free South Korea across the border is a false one. As the article later says, there is growing awareness of the riches in the South, and they are fully aware of how poor they are, as anyone would if the people around them are starving to death. This awareness does not make North Koreans any less fearful of the authorities. The North Korean government actually no longer use the myth of their relative prosperity compared to the South to legitimise their regime, for these very reasons. They rely on a hyped-up version of the Korean notion of loyalty to the fatherland, a seige mentality, a fierce nationalism, and the personality cults of KIS and KJI.
On the missile/satellite launch, we should also consider the important internal factors as well as the external factors. I suspect this launch has a lot to do with boosting KJI's position and credibility at a time when there are concerns over his health and questions about succesion.
I wholeheartedly agree on the importance of funding North Korean students to study in America, Europe, and even China and Vietnam, so they are exposed to international norms and become the next generation of reformist leaders.
North Korea actually makes efforts to encourage cultural diplomacy and there won't be barriers on their part to let their students study abroad (temporarily). They have shown great interest in this in the past. It is a matter of political will in the West to make the funds available for this kind of long-term project.