Notes on North Korea (6/11)

Dr. Tessman droppin' knowledge by the pond

As a new week began, we found ourselves back in the classroom, this time to discuss the role of North Korea in the region. We started with the North's Juche ideology, which our readings traced back to interactions with the Soviets, specifically their guerrilla tactics. Kim Il-sung, the Supreme Leader of North Korea, professed radical self-reliance from the nation's beginning, to which the scholars we read attribute much explanatory power. They claim this is responsible for much of North Korea's behavior as well as its isolated, security/survival-focused position in the global community, painting a picture of the North struggling to balance the pursuit of political and economic concessions from the global community with the protection of its identity, ideology, and legitimacy, both internationally and domestically.

We then jumped to the subject of Korean peninsular reunification, discussing it from the points of view of the  major regional actors.

• We agreed that South Korea faced a short-term disincentive to reunification due to the many socioeconomic disparities between the two countries, but a long-term economic incentive in terms of resources, trade, and human and industrial capital. 

• North Korea would face a huge political disincentive-- its entire regime would cease to exist, which is the last thing it wants-- coupled with huge economic incentives. 

• The United States would lose politically and militarily, as one less "enemy" in the region would erode its legitimacy for maintaining such a strong military presence. This reduced military footprint could also be seen as an incentive, especially at a time when military budgets are being cut.

• The evaporation of North Korea would pose a territorial threat to China, as it presently acts as somewhat of a buffer between it and US interests, but this would also provide an opportunity to increase its influence and territory in the wake of unrest.

• Japan would benefit from increased trade with a more robust unified Korea, but would potentially face a new regional rival, which could play poorly with historical tensions between Korea over Japanese imperialism

I'd been very interested in Korean reunification since attending peace talks at UGA and was very disappointed to realize that the significant actors in the region have a mixed-at-best opinion of reunification. No wonder it's such a politically inelastic issue.

We spent the afternoon walking and talking with Dr. Tessman about our careers and futures (pictured at the top of this post). Later, we got together for a sweet dinner downtown near the university, and otherwise were free to do as we pleased!

Slicin' up the goodies

A view of the spread

I found a bike outside the restaurant that reminded me of home! I wonder why the hell it said "appalachia"?!