The most desirable outcome for the North Koreans would have the South Koreans join the North and form one single country with North Korea as the lead. The most important thing to have is a good military with strong numbers. North Korea’s military numbers around 1.2 million people while the South has about 700,000 personnel (3). You can have the best economy, strong patriotism, and all the freedom you want, but if you do not have a strong military, you will not survive. A military will guarantee your freedom from any outside source.
In order to survive, one must have self reliance for itself. North Korea has been self reliance for many decades (1). They have not had to get any outside help from anyone. No one is able to help if you are not able to help yourself.
North Korea from day one has looked for a way to unify the peninsula. The name North Korea was only thought of as an interim state name. They did not want to be separated from the south however, nothing came of their attempts (2).
Finally, the last reason that North Korea should take the lead after the end of this conflict is that they are not afraid to do whatever they want. They refused the world to end their nuclear power unless it was on their own terms. They will make trade agreements with anyone that will help them. They are not afraid to defy the world and do what they think is best for themselves.
North Korea is a self sufficient country that is not afraid to do their own thing. They have one of the biggest militaries in the world to protect itself from outside forces.
BBC (October 2007). Country Profile: North Korea. Retrieved November 30, 2007 from the BBC website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/country_profiles/1131421.stm.
JRank (2007). Culture of North Korea. Retrieved November 30, 2007 from the Countries and their cultures website: http://www.everyculture.com/Ja-Ma/North-Korea.html.
U.S. State Department (2006). Background Note: North Korea. Retrieved November 30, 2007 from the US Department of State website: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2792.htm.
5 comments:
The final reason given as to why you think North Korea should come out on top in this conflict is because they are not afraid to stand up for themselves and reject all others. You state that the country is not afraid to do what it wants and that they refused to end nuclear power programs unless it was completely under their own terms. This is exactly why North Korea should not come out on top of this conflict. This is a dangerous country and without being closely monitored, could cause global catastrophe. This is not a winning point, merely a reason as to why North Korea’s level of power must be stripped from them.
K.Carpenter
Response to two points by Andrew Rowland of the Conquistadores:
In your blog, you post that the most important thing is to have a military with strong numbers. You quote North Korea as having about 1.2 million members in their military, and South Korea as having only 700,000. This is a little misleading. South Korea does have about 700,000 members in it's standing army, but has an additional 4.5 million in their reserves. (Military of South Korea, n.d.) As those of us in the United States know, a military of reserves is just as effective as a full-time millitary. However I will concede that North Korea, including its reserves, has about 5.8 million members. (Korean People's Army, n.d.) As far as equipment, South Korea obtains its weaponry and technology from American and European based companies. The North, which has not had a significant military purchase in years, used to obtain equipment from the likes of China and the former Soviet Union. Their equipment is now outdated and 2-3 technological generations old. (Korean People's Army, n.d.) In addition, the South has one thing that the North does not: A Mutual Defense Treaty with the U.S. In 1954, the South signed this treaty with the United States. In effect, an attack on South Korea is an attack on the United States, and triggers an automatic response from the U.S. military, which is arguably the strongest, most well equipped military in the world right now. (Overview, 2006)
You also state that, in order to survive, one must have self-reliance. The North is NOT self reliant, and has not been for years. First off, the North considers itself a self-reliant state, although it routinely accepts aid from foreign nations. (North Korea, n.d.) Many internation groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, label North Korea as having one of the worst human rights records of any nation. (North Korea, n.d.) In the mid-1990's, 300,000 to 800,000 North Koreans were starving to death each year due to lack of food. (North Korea, n.d.) China and South Korea each donate (i.e. give for free) nearly 1 million tons of food aid each year. This is in addition to the 700,000 tons given by the United States. (North Korea, n.d.) Accepting such donations of food is not "self-reliant". The North contiually requires the aid of foreign nations to survive, and will continue to do so until they merge with the South.
Sorry - I did not cite my references in my last post:
Military of South Korea. n.d. Military of South Korea. Accessed December 5, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_of_South_Korea.
Overview. July 21, 2006. Overview - South Korea Military Agencies. Accessed December 5, 2007 from http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/rok/intro.htm.
Korean People's Army. n.d. Korean People's Army. Accessed December 5, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_of_North_Korea.
North Korea. n.d. North Korea. Accessed December 5, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korea.
When you state in your blog that from day one, North Korea has attempted to unify the peninsula and nothing came out of their attempts. In reality, it has been the South that has made numerous attempts to find ways for both Korea’s to become united. One major attempt was taken in 1998, by South Korea’s president, Kim Dae Jung; this is called the Sunshine Policy, and is a doctrine that emphasizes a peaceful cooperation in the short term that would hopefully lead to Korean unification. The world has rewarded South Korea’s policy by awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Kim Dae Jung, in 2000. There are three basic principals to this policy: No armed provocation will be tolerated, the South will no make any attempt to absorb the North, and the South actively seeks the North’s cooperation. There is actually one more stipulation that was put forth by the free world and that is the North must give up their nuclear weapons program. This is the main sticking point at this time because the North refuses to negotiate this point and the free world will not permit South Korea to go forward until this issue is solved (Sunshine, 2007).
There have been several summits and proposed summits by the South, which have met with no cooperation from the North. The South has actually started the Kaesong Industrial Park, where in the South will be spending over $324 million in aid for North Korea. North Korea is continuing its provocations and criminal activities such as, a sea battle in 2002, that killed several South Korean sailors for no reason, and the North continues to make counterfeit American money. In general, the North has demonstrated unwillingness to reciprocate the south’s attempts of good will. The North continues to except aid from several countries including South Korea and uses this money to support the huge army rather than give aid to the general population, as agreed to when the aid was supplied (Sunshine, 2007).
North Korea has broken its pledge to reopen a direct rail link between the North and South in 2006 and broke their agreement to hold a summit in August of 2007. It seems that North Korea as represented by Kim Jong-Il, has absolutely no intention of honoring their agreements and always attempts to keep the country separated rather than to unite it (Sunshine, 2007).
Sunshine Policy. (2007). Sunshine Policy Wikipedia. Retrieved November 29, 2007, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_policy
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