North Korea break-through or buy-off?

Its nice to hear of progress with North Korean dictator, Kim Jong II. With as often as he changes his mind, we will get to hear the news of the same progress over and over again.

$400M in oil to be paid to North Korea in good faith exchange for them to close their weapons building facilities and let weapons inspectors back in. Talks can resume years in the future about actually dismantling weapons and collecting the nuclear fuel, which will certainly amount to even more ransom payments.

Why are we paying them for promising to halt production?
Is it just for a headline, political agenda, or a stepping stone to progress?
Is this similar to providing terrorists a ransom?

NKorea is supported by China and protected from being at war with the US. This balance ensures a focus on ambassador relations and tactics.

We would all support goodwill payments to North Korea from the wealthy countries as a sign of our prosperity and a motivation to join our capital markets. It just feels good, like philanthropy.

However, a quicker and more significant lesson would be received the world over if wealthy nations did two things :
1. do not cave to ransoms and bribes to prevent threats (you will only encourage more threats)
2. enforce trade restrictions; exclude aggressive behaviors from the world economies. Allow these societies to witness the prosperity of capitalism and democracy from the more than half of the countries in the world (approx. 125 of 193). Only when they hit absolute rock bottom will the ‘people’ up rise in civil war and make definite and immediate change.


China is a perfect model of a transitioning government and economy that will make all North Koreans desperate to give up their pure command market and seek the wealth of foreign trade.

Without this desperate motivation for absolute and permanent change, this story will be one long drawn out game of welfare payments for ‘hide and seek.’