20 December SWJ Roundup

Many of the Korea hands can say I told you so. But it was interesting listening to the pundits talk all weekend and not understand the true nature of the Kim Family Regime. It will respond but just not how people think it will. Although I did hear some good reports on how major war on the Peninsula will have global effects so in some sense the increase in tension is a good wake-up call.

I do not think that GOV Richardson had any impact and I believe he has been duped. The "agreements" he obtained - a hotline, the return of US remains (for which we have already paid about $1 million per set of remains), the joint north-South working group or commission to reduce tensions or whatever he is calling it, and "concessions" on its nuclear program are nothing to the north. And furthermore, since GOV Richardson is there as a private citizen the regime has an easy out since it can say it made no official agreements. Furthermore, the north used GOV Richardson's visit and the news coverage - both to appear strong (note the weekend rhetoric) and appear diplomatic as it attempts to seize the "moral high ground" by not responding. GOV Richardson's presence helped to "legitimize" the north's actions and in a way he served as a mouthpiece for the regime.

I don't usually "do" war. Canadian Politics is my usual Bailiwick. Though in that regard, certain issues regarding Afghanistan are inevitable.

But it seemed appropriate enough that with the potential for a global conflict to erupt, I monitored events on the Korean peninsula closely into the wee hours last night and "tweeted" accordingly. At least until the all clear was given.

But what seems to amaze me, is the relative nonchalance of the media regarding the Live Fire drill by the ROK last night. The attitude being something like "been there, done that, bought the end of the world t-shirt all ready".

Maybe old hands know that this was just typical sabre rattling from two political rivals, but I can't help but feel that we came perilously close to all out catastrophe.U.S. war planes were on high alert in Guam. If fighting had started, would they have intervened? How would China and Russia react to that. Would we have reverted to 1953 all over again? Would we have found ourselves in a conflict that would make Iraq and Afghanistan look like a walk in the park? (which of course, they are not).

But I guess that in this age of high speed up to the moment global information reporting (except for CNN who were at least an hour behind the live news events) "It came, nothing happened, move on to the next thing". No time, no point in contemplating the "what ifs".

I'm sorry though, but I'm just a little shaken still. The feeling of how close we came to something quite terrible makes the domestic news scene seem rather trivial today.

That was close... after threatening "brutal consequences beyond imagination" if the drills went forward, when they did the North Koreans did nothing by claiming that they were simply "not worth reacting" to. I guess attacking civilians is much easier when there's no-one there to fight back, but once the big guns have been deployed chickening out is the better part of valour...

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