(With all due respect to “Sound of Music” lovers…)
How do you solve a problem like Korea?
How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?
How do you find a word that means Korea?
A flibbertijibbet! A will-o’-the wisp! A clown!
Many a thing you know you’d like to tell her
Many a thing she ought to understand
But how do you make her stay
And listen to all you say
How do you keep a wave upon the sand
Oh, how do you solve a problem like Korea?
How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?
How do you solve a problem like North Korea? How do we hold this hostile ‘moonbeam’ in our hand? … The rhetoric is rising. The probability of a military conflict is increasing. Allow me to first share facts (much of which was outlined by USA Today this weekend)…
- First president Kim Il Sung established the country’s self-described Juche (“self-reliant”) state, which has essentially cut off North Korea economically and diplomatically from the rest of the world.
- According to South Korean government estimates and Human Rights Watch, between 150,000-200,000 North Koreans live in prison camps. A 2011 Amnesty International report reveals that as many as 40% of camp prisoners die from malnutrition while doing mining, logging and agricultural work with rudimentary tools in harsh conditions.
- The World Food Programme estimates that 6 million of North Korea’s 25 million people are in need of food aid and one-third of children are chronically malnourished or stunted.
- Only military and government officials can own a motor vehicle.
- Citizens are allowed 1 of 28 government approved haircuts.
- All legal televisions are tuned to state-controlled domestic programming; the Internet offers only a closed domestic network. Observers believe that few citizens receive news from any source other than North Korean propaganda.
- Nearly all property belongs to the state.
- A modern independent judicial system does not exist.
- Religious freedom does not exist.
- The death of the leader Kim Jong-il in Dec. of 2011, prompted great, global uncertainty as to how the country will interact with foreign nations in the future.
- 2 weeks ago, new leader Kim Jong-un (youngest son of Kim Jong-iI) declared it was in ‘a state of war’ with South Korea, promising “stern physical actions” against “any provocative act.” He also announced that rockets were ready to be fired at American bases.
While many remain on edge because of the nuclear capability possessed by North Korea, many others dismiss the problem because the totalitarian country is a fairly small, singular state. The challenge, however, lies in the fact that global conflicts are usually sparked by singular, sometimes isolated acts… After multiple diplomatic clashes between nations, for example, World War I started after the assassination of the Archduke of Austria Hungary and his wife… World War II, with unresolved tensions from war #1, is generally understood to have been prompted by the German/Russian invasion of Poland and the Japanese invasion of China… singular countries… isolated acts.
So how do we solve a problem like Korea? While many among us promote peace at all costs, that position will likely not serve effective in halting the hostility of such a “flibbertijibbet” country [“flibbertijibbet” chosen for self, diplomatic purposes]. Unfortunate or not, there exists a time for everything… a season for every activity under heaven… a time to be born and a time to die, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time for war and a time for peace.
Let’s pray this isn’t a time for war. But until the problem of North Korea is firmly and effectively extinguished, the possibility solemnly remains.
Respectfully…
AR