Korea Negotiations

Korea: Talks Between the North and South

            Since Korea was split in half, metaphorically and territorially, after WWII, the North and South have gone down starkly different paths; the South embraced democracy, whereas the North had its own familial line of what would soon become a dictatorship, one that raises red flags constantly with regard to human rights violations, yet still pretends that its doing okay on its own. Yet, whether its out of genuine beliefs, or they realize that they would be on the losing end of a war with the South and its allies, North Korea has stated it’s open to negotiations, something that it hasn’t done for a while. Is this a genuine wish for peace, or does the North hold more sinister desires?

            One reason why talks in the past haven’t worked is because North Korea never follows through with their end of the bargain. According to an article on Vox, North Korea has failed to uphold any agreements in relation to its nuclear arms program since 1985. Also, the last time a South Korean president has stepped foot in North Korea was in 2007. Also, this is the first peace talk with Jong-Un; the last one was with his father, Jong-Il.

            I feel we should still attempt these peace talks. Although its clear to the developed world that any failure of these peace talks will, most likely, be because of North Korea, the fact that we do them is still proof that we want a result that doesn’t equate to a third World War or exchange of nuclear payload. Also, whereas the people who held the title of President in past negotiations were more cautious of their own decisions, our current President is more than willing to press “the big button that’s bigger than North Korea’s” if it comes down to it, and the North most likely knows that Trump is the first President who would actually be willing to back up that threat. Participation in negotiation talks would also put pressure on North Korea, as such negotiations would likely expose more of the true North Korea to the world. Negotiations could also allow the possibility of letting North Koreans able to choose to leave North Korea without consequence.

            https://www.vox.com/world/2018/3/6/17084818/north-korea-willing-to-talk-give-up-nukes-denuclearization