The Real Reason for Normalizing Relations with North Korea

If you are wondering why the Koreans have been trying so hard to have the United States normalize relations with North Korea well now you have your answer:

The Korea Land Corporation has drawn up a plan to develop several North Korean cities as special economic zones and industrial, trade and tourism bases, it emerged Thursday. […]

The new report lists detailed strategies to develop Nampo, Haeju, Hamheung, Wonsan, Shinuiju, Najin and Sunbong as key industrial, logistics and tourism bases. The report identifies the six cities are those that can be first designated as special economic zones when North Korea opens up. [Chosun Ilbo]

This is really no surprise and relates back to South Korea’s claims of wanting to implement a "North Korean Marshall Plan".  Such a plan is not possible unless the economic sanctions implemented by the United States for a variety of reasons to include North Korea being a state sponsor of terrorism are dropped.  Here is what anti-Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung had to say about this:

“Without the normalization of the U.S.-North Korea ties, such as the abolishment of a U.S. law banning trade with North Korea and the North’s removal from a U.S. list naming states who sponsor terrorism, inter-Korean economic cooperation programs will face difficulties,” he said.

Pyongyang was put on the list in 1988 after its agents blew up a South Korean passenger plane, killing all 115 people aboard. [Korea Times]

It is amazing how easily Lee can just blow off the fact that North Korea has bombed a civilian airliner not to mention kidnapped South Korean citizens that are still imprisoned in North Korea, and killed members of the South Korean government in a past bombing attack in Burma.  Truthfully I’m not surprised considering this is the same guy that believes there is "no concrete evidence of human rights violations in the North".

Libya was only removed from the US state sponsored terrorism list when they accounted for and paid compensation to the victims’ families of the Pan Am bombing over Scotland.  What has North Korea ever done to account for their past terrorist attacks?  Nothing except more aggression and belligerence to get people to appease them, which is what all of this is.  Personally I find it repugnant that the South Korean government will do nothing to demand the return of their kidnapped citizens from North Korea and leaving this up to 66 year old grandmas to launch rescue missions.

Such a plan will do nothing to solve the fundamental problem of poverty in North Korea, which is the regime.  Notice the last sentence in the above quote, "when North Korea opens up".  You can give them fertilizer and food, you can pave all the roads in North Korea, and build them factories, but poverty will remain because it is in the regime’s interest to keep the people poor.  Opening up of the country would ultimately lead to the end of the regime. 

So expect North Korea to play nice in their attempt to influence the upcoming South Korean presidential election, but when the time comes for them to make real change the belligerence will return and the South Korean leftists will blame it all on the United States anyway.