FE

You are of course correct about North Korea about the lack of freedom of speech and thought. I still maintain that the asian culture is an extra obstacle to a positive dialogue with the north.

The real problem is as Last chip states the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The nuclear genie is out of the bottle and there is no way of getting it back in. The trouble is that certain nations have nuclear weapons and others don't. The ones that do are seen as more powerful than the ones that don't and the less pragmatic of these and North Korea is the least pragmatic of Iran and NK will use the "face" issue as a justification to itself as a reason to pursue the nuclear nightmare.

In the middle east, the fact that Israel has nuclear weapons means that Iran wants them. This means that Israel having them makes it a destabilising influence in the area. As close to the US as Israel is, there is no absolute guarantee that Israel wouldn't act unilaterally. That means that Iran sees an imbalance towards Israel.

I'm no diplomat, but if I were a betting man, if Israel had no nuclear weapons, Iran wouldn't want them. I am in no way saying that NK and Iran should have the bomb, but I'm not sure that the posturing is helping very much. The question is of course what else do you do?

North Korea is of course pretty destitute and the South has been sending financial aid for many years because of famines and there is widespread TB in the North which charities I have supported try to help tackle. This aid becomes a bargaining tool. That is the way forward - the aid, but then NK admitting it needs aid means that it has to show weakness. Sanctions may help, but I suspect that will affect the people rather than the leadership.

It is so secretive in the North, it is difficult to say who really holds the power. Kim Jong-Un probably does rule with a rod of Iron, but this could be subtefuge from a military leadership that uses him as a figurehead.

FE

Reading your 1.19pm post, would possibly refer to China as well?.

Many countries still practise an eye for an eye, but the world politicians do no go around shouting tyrant. Even Stalin was a friend to Great Britain and the USA!.

I would like to thank pavvi for explaining how "face" permeates everything in the orient. I experienced it some years ago when I had oriental colleagues and found it difficult to understand, but now I see things more clearly. The big question is WHO really controls NK, or is it who are the faceless generals who are really in control, and can we trust them to keep on the straight and narrow path towards unity of north and south Korea. Good luck to all the diplomats involved.