More On North Korea--The World's Nuclear War Head Boutique

Dear Warwick:

First I hope that my prediction of yesterday never comes true. But I have to look at the worst possible case always. Australians can tell you all about North Korea. A North Korean freighter ran aground loaded with heroin for the Australian kids. The US shut down one bank connection in Macao where Kim Jong Il was laundering all of his money from illegal operations. The elite always live well there regardless of what happens. I could go on with the criminality aspect for hours. Wars often happen because of miscalculations. Kim Jong Il and his generals may be emboldened to the point that they do something really stupid and it would be hell for all of us. South Africa would not be a target of nuclear terrorism. But you all would suffer if North Korea supplied a few war heads that jihadists used to hit American and European cities.

America is at fault also for the current situation. North Korea invaded the South in 1950. The US was pushed all the way down to a small pocket around Pusan. General MacArthur counter attacked and drove the North Koreans out of the South and went charging like General Patton all the way to the Yalu River that is the border with China. MacArthur was emboldened as Kim Jong Il is now. He was boasting that he would move across the Yalu River into China and this upset Chairman Mao who staged 500,000 men on the border and sent 250,000 after the American 8th army and the US Marines. What should have happened is that the US forces should have had an orderly retreat back to the North Korean capital and held the Chinese. President Truman should have held to his original warning that he would use nuclear weapons to stop the Chinese advance. If that had happened, we would have had a more or less united Korea with the far northern part a Chinese province. Ironically after the Soviet Union fell, many of Stalin's papers were made public. One document talked about his reaction after American troops stormed into North Korea. He made one ironic comment as follows: "Oh well now we will have the Americans as neighbors." In other words, the Russians planned to do nothing if the US got North Korea. The fear mongers of the time thought the Soviets would launch a nuclear war to save North Korea. South Africa even fought in Korea and I will give you a story below.

How do we solve this problem? As long as China supports them, North Korea will be a big danger. Taiwan holds a big key here. When President Kennedy came to office, he made the comment that a divided China and Taiwan was not natural. He promised that in his second term, he would stand aside and let China unite with Taiwan. Sadly he did not live to implement this. When Kissinger and Nixon were opening the door to China, they offered them Taiwan if they agreed to open a dialogue with the US. Ironically Chou En Lai called Chaing Kai Shek in Taiwan and tipped him off about this offer. When it became public, the Taiwan lobby in the US stopped this.

China needs "an offer that they cannot refuse." It would be real politik and something like this: "Give the West North Korea and we will stand aside and let you unite with Taiwan like you did with Hong Kong. (I spent time in Hong Kong where the Chinese took over in 1997. It is still autonomous and feels like the British are still in charge. China would treat Taiwan the same way.)

Before I sign off let me tell you a story. South African pilots flew US P-51 Mustangs in Korea. One South African pilot shot down a Mig jet with a propeller-driven plane. Some South African pilots were shot down. Those lucky enough to end up in Chinese custody were treated decently. When being interrogated, Chinese from Hong Kong with British educations did the questioning. They were always described as well-mannered and decent to the South Africans. I'm reading a small book about North Korea in 1950 called Hold Back The Night. One chapter talks about the experience of a US Marine Corps lieutenant from Florida captured by the Chinese. Sure enough, he ended up being interrogated by an English-speaking Chinese from Hong Kong. The two men hit it off famously and were even drinking scotch together. The Chinese colonel sent the man back to his lines after the questioning was over. He was spared some years in a POW camp. Those unfortunates who ended up in North Korean custody were not so lucky.

with kindest regards,
-JackW