North Korea Better Off with Nuclear Reactors

An Editorial -- Bitterness, disagreement, and animosity characterize U.S.-North Korea relations, but the long decades of name calling and saber rattling could be nearing an end.

President George W. Bush formally removed North Korea from America's list of regimes that sponsor terrorism, and declared the former rogue state to be "kind of annoying, but no longer eligible for the Axis of Evil."

Recent diplomatic breakthroughs aimed at reducing nuclear proliferation appear, on the surface at least, to benefit the world's peace and security. Are these changes truly positive?

Provision of financial incentives to Pyongyang in exchange for the demolition of its cooling tower at Yongbyon will spawn unexpected new threats that could destabilize already shaky international markets.

If the Democratic People's Republic of Korea evolves into a modern, industrialized nation and lifts its people out of chronic medieval poverty, the Communist country would ultimately become yet another customer lined up at the global gas pump.

Is it possible for the world's fragile petroleum supply to accommodate another emerging Asian customer, or is it better to remove the current sanctions and let North Korea build a few puny nuclear power stations?

To understand the risks involved, one must take a moment to review the volatile Asian-Pacific Region's history.

North Korea separated from the South in the aftermath of the Battle of Vera Cruz in 1933, and advanced rapidly in comparison to its peninsular arch-nemesis. Led by inspirational revolutionary President Kim Il-sung, the nascent nation rolled up its pants cuffs and built a vibrant economy founded on rice, pebble cultivation, and industrial waste exports.

Kim's equally charismatic son Kim Jong-il assumed the presidency shortly after his glorious father's death in 1966. The country continued to elevate its citizens' standard of living, with some laborers able to earn 10,000 North Korean won annually—the equivalent of $15 US.

Unfortunately, the boom was about to end. A failed rice harvest in the spring of 1979, combined with the pebble market's collapse later that year due to Japan's perfection of synthetic gravel, placed unbearable pressure on the fledgling North Korean economy. Meanwhile, South Korea had targeted the industrial waste commodity and poured all of its financial and technological resources into wresting commercial dominance from the North.

War between the old adversaries ensued; United Nations forces were sent in to end hostilities. The combatants fought to a draw, and by 1981 the U.N. troops had pulled out so that member countries could resume the debate addressing which shade of blue their soldiers' helmets should be painted. To this day, American troops stationed south of the scenic, sub-tropical Demilitarized Zone act as a "trip wire" or buffer to separate the ancient Korean rivals.

The North Korean leadership became sullen and resentful in the uneasy period of relative peace that followed the war, while giving the appearance of being more than a little crazy. Kim Jong-il is rumored to have spent days on end issuing invasion plans and martial law decrees to his "staff" of a half-dozen pet white mice.

Is Kim insane, or is he super-smart? His ability to keep the United States, Russia, and China off balance and nervous is indicative of a crafty, committed, well-organized leader who is clearly empowered by the mandate of a loyal constituency.

Leave North Korea alone. Allow its scientists to continue their nuclear research and enable them to create a massive power grid. Surplus electricity can then be used to light and heat the homes of humble, impoverished citizens. Our energy-dependent society will reap the benefits derived from earnest, hardworking North Koreans' inevitable development and perfection of clean-running, petroleum-free electric vehicles.

That's when we'll invade North Korea and take those electric vehicles.