And now, with a South Korean president who won't undermine a policy of holding firm, we will have Japan and South Korea willing to squeeze North Korea to get what they want--denuclearization of North Korea and an accounting of Japanese citizens kidnapped by Pyongyang during the Cold War. And Secretary Rice is with the program:
Rice last week said she was pleased the Philharmonic would be playing a work by Czech composer Antonin Dvorak in Pyongyang, but dismissed the concert, saying: "I don't think we should get carried away with what listening to Dvorak is going to do in North Korea."
In Seoul, Rice also noted the United States and South Korea share deep "strategic interests" and "common values" like democracy and praised Lee's inaugural address in which he promised to "strengthen our strategic alliance with the United States" and demanded openness from the North.
In his speech, Lee told South Koreans, and by extension Koreans in the North, that only "once North Korea abandons its nuclear program and chooses the path to openness" can people expect to see "a new horizon in inter-Korean cooperation."
Some money will flow to the North if the North learns to behave. I know North Korea assumes that they can get the cash by only pretending to behave, as they did in 1994, but times are changing. Even an administration in 2009 committed to a 1994 faux agreement will find our allies not as naive as it is about North Korea's atomic promises.
We need to contain and squeeze North Korea by offering only minimal economic aid until the Pillsbury Nuke Boy's sick regime collapses. And always keep talking to give the North Koreans hope that talking might lead to an opening of the spigot.
Meanwhile the North grows ever more feeble. I think we're down to 1-1/2 charter members of the Axis of Evil for all practical purposes.
UPDATE: A former aide to former President Clinton doesn't think waiting for the next president (assuming for the sake of argument that this would be a Democrat) is a good idea:
Wendy Sherman, who was former president Bill Clinton's North Korea policy coordinator, said Kim Jong-Il -- whom she called a "smart man" -- should take advantage of US President George W. Bush's shift to a more conciliatory policy.
"It (the situation) might get worse, not better," she told Yonhap news agency in an interview.
"If you (North Koreans) take too long to make the decision, even a Democratic president will have a hard time making rapid progress because there will be even less trust if you don't take action."
And if the North Koreans gamble and get a President McCain, they can look forward to another four years of hunger and and increased feebleness.
