Bargain

Article


The today's article is about the liberal paper Hankyoreh’s editorial about the Korea’s access to Iranian oil. The editorial demands that if the Korea does sanction Iranian oil, South Korea should demand some kind of assistance with the six-party negotiation with North Korea.

In theory I agree with the idea that some kind of quid-pro-quid is not only desirable but is in the offering. South Korean government might be pro-America, but idiots they are not. The question lies more on the nature of aid that Hankyoreh propose. Since the article note that the fact that India and Israel possess nuclear weapons tacit American toleration, but does not make explicit recommendations. I cannot but wonder what kind of concession Hankyoreh is thinking. Here are my list:

1 Live with nuclear North Korea: Hankyoreh is well known for arguing that sanctions due to North Korea’s Possession of Nuclear weapons are obsolete and should be removed. This would mean that both Koreas would accept North Korea as nuclear power. Considering the political climate in both Washington and Seoul where both countries are having presidential elections this year, that is not going to happen.

2 More aid to North Korea:  The general consensus is that there will be famine this year in North Korea. The current conservative government is unsure about sending aid due it the experience of past, not to mention wanting to see if Kim Jung-Un will make concessions. This might be more likely, but Kim is in no position to make concessions when his own power base is so insecure. So this will not happen either.

It would be interesting to know kind of concession there might be, and whether that would actually be found acceptable to the liberal newspaper. My guess? It won’t/