All Carrots and No Stick

The North Koreans have until April 14th to shut down their nuclear reactor, which right now they show no signs of doing, while simultaneously the South Koreans are going to go ahead and send them 400,000 tons of rice anyway.   Even more appalling is that US financial negotiators appear ready to give North Korea back it’s $25 million dollars in a Macao bank that was garnered through counterfeiting and money laundering of US currency.  Unbelievably this is the condition the US negotiators put in place for the return of the money:

  "We stand ready to assist the Macanese authorities in their efforts to release the funds and with all parties to effectuate the North Korean pledge that any money received by them would be used for humanitarian purposes of benefit to the North Korean people," it said.

The US is trusting a "pledge" from the North Koreans that they will use this money for humanitarian purposes?  These negotiators cannot honestly think this money is going to be used for humanitarian purposes?  How is anyone going to verify this?  If they want to use this money for humanitarian purposes how about using the money to buy food and send the food to North Korea instead?  There is no way this money is going to be used for humanitarian purposes and I’m sure the negotiators realize that as well.  This "pledge" is just political cover to give the North Koreans back the money without the appearance of breaking the UN luxury goods ban which giving them $25 million dollars is sure to be used to buy.  What is even worse about this appeasement is that giving back the $25 million was never in the original Agreed Framework 2.0 deal signed earlier this year. 

I’m guessing the negotiators are gambling that the North Koreans will not shut down their nuclear reactor by April 14th and by giving them the $25 million now, this would deprive Pyongyang of an excuse to blame the United States for them not shutting down the reactor.  I think it is 50/50 right now if they shut down the reactor or not, but even if they don’t what is anybody going to do?  They got their money back and South Korea keeps giving them free goodies anyway, along with the inter-Korean Kaeseong and Kumgang cash cows that are still operating.  Plus their criminal enterprises is still bringing in enough money because nobody is intercepting and inspecting North Korean ships either.  Its all carrots and no stick and that is the way it always is with North Korea.