On this 66th
anniversary of North Korea’s ignominious invasion of South Korea, June 25th
1950, I’m suggesting a political solution for the intractable conflict between
North Korea and the rest of the world. My solution taps into an aspect of
pan-Asian culture that is little known and less understood in the Western
World.
For shear
volatility, nothing, even Radical Islamic Terrorism, can compare with a lunatic
leader, Kim Jong-un, flaunting his missiles and nuclear weapons in the face of
the civilized world. Something new and different needs to be tried before an
error in his technology or judgement triggers another war on that peninsula.
I’ve never heard or read anything
about a negotiation approach being employed in dealing with Kim that, to me,
seems simple and guaranteed to be successful in at least reducing tensions in
the short run, and perhaps changing the entire course of history in that part
of the world. It starts with Air Force One landing in Pyongyang bringing a new
US President on an official visit to the world’s most unfathomable leader. The
President will be bringing along an outline for a paradigm shift in North
Korean history that requires presentation by the World’s most powerful leader
in order to force Kim to take it seriously. Once the doors to Kim’s conference
room are closed, the President stands up and says:
“Mr. Chairman, we are here to offer
you an opportunity to cement your place in history. We wish to make you the Father of Modern North
Korea. The operative word is ‘Modern’, and here’s what we propose……….”
Those who
study the history of International Communism and the nations and leaders who’ve
succumbed to that palsied ideology can agree on one commonality, and that is
the wish of each leader to be venerated, often to god-like levels. Note the
massive portrait of Mao Zedong that looms over crowds at Tiananmen Square in
Beijing with (best guess) dimensions of 50’ by 30’ and a weight of 1.5 tons. Go
back to early 20th Century Russia and one will see giant portraits
of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Lenin and Stalin paraded through Red Square on
May Day. Though Marx and Engels would have been appalled at such displays,
Lenin and Stalin reveled in such egotistical ostentation. The portraits are
paraded in Pyongyang as well, but add to that the mausoleum for Kim IL-sung and
his son Kim Jong-il which was built while their people starved.
Time takes a
toll on the reputations of such leaders, e.g. Stalin’s body was removed from
its place of honor in the Kremlin Wall, Lenin’s Tomb no longer has an honor
guard, and their name-sake cities have long-since been renamed. Leaders of
other Soviet-era Warsaw Pact regimes demanded demigod status and have similarly
been dumped in history’s trash bin. The President’s strategy with Kim Jung-un
is to plant the seed that the Pyongyang mausoleum will one day be Kim’s alone
and, most importantly, that his place in North Korean history will not be
fleeting.
The 1945
Yalta Conference of the soon-to-be-victorious Allies divided the Korean
Peninsula at the 38th Parallel, presenting the Soviets control of
the North as a reward for belatedly going to war with Japan. A puppet dictator,
Kim IL-sung, was soon installed. The South was under American protection, and we
all know the tragedy that soon followed in 1950 through 1953. Kim IL-sung
remained dictator until his death in 1994, when his son Kim Jong-il took over.
By then, it had to be obvious to the new dictator that the two Korean societies
were progressing at diametrically opposite rates. He had to be aware of the
prosperity and economic power that was flowering below the Parallel. Yet he dug
in his heels and set the stage for the North’s societal atrophy. He and his
cronies lived comfortable lives, and for the millions in his charge he cared
not at all.
The point
is, the negotiation strategy I envision would not have worked with either of
the first two Kims. I suspect neither was a deep thinker; indeed, both may have
been functional illiterates. They each in turn ate, drank, conspired and
murdered until their bodies and brains wore out and they died. Too harsh? We
can only look at the results of their governance and guess where their energies
were focused.
Kim Jong-un
may not yet be beyond reach and repair. He is young, ruthless and, by virtue of
his apparent success at consolidating power, of at least average intelligence.
One must assume he spends hours on the Web marveling at what goes on in the ‘real’
world while he floats in the cesspool of human despair and decay created by his
predecessors. But what can he do? He is a prisoner of his own dictatorship.
Weakness will get him overthrown and killed by one of his scheming generals.
However, he and those scheming generals all have a few ‘wants’ in common. First
is their own personal safety, life itself. Second is their own personal power,
the basis of their safety. But there’s something else that each wants, indeed
needs, desperately, and that’s to be revered and remembered as great men.
Kim has the
unprecedented opportunity to take his place in history in general and Korean
history in particular as the ‘Father of Modern North Korea’. In a society that
venerates its ancestors, he’d be at the pinnacle of veneration. Imagine how
that exalted status would resonate with such a young man who has always lived
in his grandfather’s and father’s collective shadows. That will not change
unless he finds a way to transcend those mythic figures, at least in the
muddled minds of his captive population. So far, he seems fixated on
establishing his bona-fides by building a nuclear capability with which to
threaten the rest of the world. Even his one ally, China, is disturbed by this activity.
To invade South Korea would generate a monumental blood bath that he knows he
won’t survive. Not much of a legacy, to be sure.
Now is the
time for the American President to approach Kim and offer him, literally, the
adoration of millions of people. His enslaved citizens could immediately see
substantive improvements in their daily lives. Kim can set the stage, start the
process and begin reaping the worldly rewards as a proverbial prophet/savior
without having to be martyred beforehand.
A Consortium
of established democracies and Mideast Oil oligarchs will be his negotiating
partner after the President breaks the ice. In the first official visit, the
Consortium will offer a stunning array of financial incentives for both Kim and
his cronies. Assuming the negotiations move steadily forward, they’ll be given
periodic rewards with more to follow as progress continues.
De-militarization
and de-nuclearization are the first and foremost negotiation items. So, first
on the agenda would be a methodical draw-down of his huge Army. After setting a
size for a standing army at parity with that of South Korea, the rest of his soldiers
would go home until they are presented with and allowed to select from a myriad
of paths for future labor. A further quid pro quo to build trust would be a withdrawal
of US troops from the South.
What would
his hundreds of thousands of former-soldiers do without their constant
preparations for war? Initially, they’ll be able to build or improve their
family homes with basic construction materials provided by the Consortium. Next,
they’ll have an entire country to rebuild to include construction and upgrade
of roads, bridges, ports, farms, an electrical grid, hospitals and clinics and,
very importantly, a cellular and wireless network. A new banking system with
the ability to finance consumer debt and home loans would need to come on line
as the population begins to enter the workforce. Motorola and Apple will be
happy to provide dirt cheap smart phones for these new consumers. Electric cars
and scooters sold by Kia and powered up on the new electrical grid will fill
the new roads, driven by the former soldiers now joy riding with their wives or
girlfriends. Immediate cross-border social and commercial intercourse with the
South would be encouraged. Women will be emancipated and educated as a national
priority since their energy and enterprise will ensure that the men remain family
focused.
Kim would
evolve into a consummate politician, traveling around his beleaguered
countryside as it begins to emerge from the Middle-ages. He’d cut ribbons for
new roads, attend harvest festivals for newly productive farms, flip the switch
on new cell systems, and on and on. He’d be welcomed with true warmth and
gratitude for the first time in his life. Hopefully he’d be ashamed of his
previous visits where his sycophants and ordinary citizens were beaten and
threatened into perfunctory shows of love and respect.
Where’s the
money come from for all this? Consortium member countries will provide grants,
loans and foreign aid in return for exclusive ‘Pay to Play’ trade access to 25
million consumers for decades to come. That’s 25 million people who have never
experienced a single quality consumer good from toilet paper to televisions. In
other words, the participating Consortium countries would sell into the one
remaining economic blank slate left in the world. The UN could be utilized to
monitor the trade agreements and make sure non-contributors are kept away from
the North Korean marketplace.
I will end
this posting now since the topic simply begs for more and more detail and
elaboration that is inappropriate in such a forum. I maintain, however, that no
representative of any nation has approached Kim Jong-un since he’s gained power
and asked him about what his legacy might be and what he would think of the
title, ‘Father of Modern North Korea’.
Bill Gritzbaugh
June 25, 2016
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