By The deification of President-Elect Barack Obama continues:
A new epoch in history has begun. Much as the world history is divided into before Christ (BC) and after Christ (AC), some observers insist that the history of modern international politics would feature “before Obama” (BO) and “after Obama” (AO). This implies that Barack Obama, president-elect of the United States, is tantamount to the savior who brings salvation to humankind. However, because too much expectation often leads to a great disappointment, caution is required in predicting and preparing for foreign policies of the forthcoming Obama administration.
Since he became the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, Obama has argued for “direct diplomacy” with Pyongyang to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue. What he meant was that, instead of regarding as a taboo a meeting with the leader of a so-called “rogue state,” he would be prepared to have a face-to-face talk with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to settle the complicated pending questions. He thus placed emphasis on the “force of diplomacy” rather than “diplomacy by force.” After his inauguration the “Obama doctrine” will be put into practice with Iran and Syria as well as North Korea. [Kim Sung-han - Korea Focus]
Can someone please tell me what “diplomacy by force” the Bush Administration used against North Korea? If anything the Bush Administration’s North Korea policy was “diplomacy of meaningless rhetoric”. We now see how well that worked considering North Korea continues to reneg on deals and little progress has been made on the nuclear issue.
So will the “Obama Doctrine” be any better? Unfortunately I don’t think Barack Obama is going to be the savior of the Korean peninsula as suggested. Flying into Pyongyang to meet with Kim Jong-il without preconditions as Obama has consistently stated he would do, is not going to change anything other then to provide the ultimate propaganda boost for the North Korean regime. This is because the regime propaganda apparatus can say that the US President has come to Pyongyang to officially apologize for imperialism, starting the Korean War, or whatever propaganda taking point they want to insert for example. That is why Kim Jong-il will not visit Seoul because it makes him look weak compared to watching former Korean President Roh-moo do everything possible to arrange a second inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang. A visit by the American president to Pyongyang only makes Kim Jong-il look even more powerful to the people he oppresses.
Plus such a meeting would accomplish nothing because as I have been saying over and over again Kim Jong-il will not turn over the nuclear weapons he currently possesses. However, the propaganda generated from it would be powerful. Just imagine if you are the average North Korean and you see not only multiple presidents of South Korea toasting Kim Jong-il and now the US President is toasting him too? Such a meeting would effectively destroy any domestic opposition to Kim Jong-il. Park Sang-hak might as well give up his activities because they would be meaningless after such a propaganda victory by the Kim regime.
Now if Barack Obama can get Kim Jong-il to travel for a summit in Seoul then that’s a different story.
10:55 am on December 14th, 2008 1
Actually, when you look at <a href="http://search.live.com/results.aspx?q=anticonservatism+myth+ethnic+national+renewal+nation+in+crisis" rel="nofollow">Obamism, it does bear striking resemblance to North Korea if taken to its extreme.
I'm not complaining; these are exciting times, just as the '30s were.
12:00 pm on December 14th, 2008 2
If any American president wants to cripple his foreign policy agenda/legacy, he can decide to make Korea or Palestine his primary focus….
1:13 pm on December 14th, 2008 3
And on the other hand, if any president wants to build a monumental foreign policy, break contact with Israel and Korea.
2:12 pm on December 14th, 2008 4
I don't believe Obama would be a propaganda tool for visiting North Korea. I believe just the opposite.
The Obama election appears to have captured some international symbolism. It is kind of like a People Power II; giving acknowledgment to People Power I in the Philippines. His campaign theme of 'Yes We Can' resonated across all demographics. Some say it empowered the powerless. It was not so much about Obama leading, but more about people coming out and coming together to effect change.
Imagine this. After Obama takes office and starts visiting foreign countries; England, France, Germany, a million people spontaneously start chanting "Yes We Can." The message: We the people have a say and we intend to participate in our governance. It catches on. He visits Russia and two million people come out and start chanting "Yes We Can." He visits Iran and tens of thousands of people murmur "Yes We Can." He visits South Korea and we know how they like to protest, maybe several million strong voices saying "Yes We Can."
China will fear a visit and the idea by then would have to have gotten around in North Korea. Do you really think Pyongyang would be looking forward to that visit?
2:48 pm on December 14th, 2008 5
JoeC,
If Obama meets with Kim Jong-il, people in North Korea will not suddenly appreciate the US and its system of democracy. They will see a validation of their current totalitarian system. If they chant "yes we can," it will mean: "Yes we can… bring the US to its knees."
On another note, Blagojevich and the "Chicago Way" would fit right in throughout the Korean peninsula.
7:34 pm on December 14th, 2008 6
Everybody knows that neither political party in the States has an answer for North Korea. If Obama thinks he can do something through dialogue that Clinton or Bush was unable to do, he's still smoking grass. It will just be another 4-8 years of propping up a regime that should have been left to collapse more than a decade ago.
Tell China that Taiwan and Japan get the bomb if North Korea still has one a year from now and let China, the only one who really can do anything about North Korea, deal with it.
1:24 am on December 15th, 2008 7
I can hardly wait for the people of the world to drop their differences and unite behind Obama, chanting, "Yes we can!" His openness and kindness will be a beacon of Hope and Change for people of all nations.
Hey, it worked for Carter. Oh, no. I didn't. Never mind.
Good luck with that.
1:26 am on December 15th, 2008 8
The people of North Korea would get a photo shoot with Dear Leader looking taller and smarter while Obama looked subservient and in awe. There would be a caption like:
1:34 am on December 15th, 2008 9
"Obama shows his admrition for Dear Leader's valuable insturction on the wonders of socailism while asking for guidance on how to best natoinalize the intsitutions of the failed captialist system." Wait. Maybe he SHOULD visit Dear Leader. Dear Leader hasn't done any worse than the bankers or Big Three executives. Dear Leader is still hanging on.
1:35 am on December 15th, 2008 10
Frankly, Obama needs to spend more time at home getting things in order instead of even thinking about North Korea who hasn't bugged anybody in a couple of decades.
Good God, JoeC. I thought the Bush zeolites were whackkos! Did you read a sermon and insert Obama in place of Jeebus? Yes We Can in place of Halllellujah?
Next up, Obama doesn't have a birth certificate because it was a vergin birth?
The only people shouting, "Yes we can!" right now are the Greeks; soon to be followed by the Italians and the Spanish.
1:38 am on December 15th, 2008 11
Anybody have an idea why the content of the #9 post got caught in the spam filter until I misspelled all the political words? I would expect arse-funking and dirk-sunking but not socailism to trigger a block.
6:50 am on December 15th, 2008 12
The problem is the fundemental difference between Obama and the short maniac. The dimmunitive one, has to make Obama come to him and not the other way around. Although with Kim's fear of flying, it would take quite a while to get to DC from North Korea.
Besides, Obama won't come from a position of strength, he will come with no muscle and Kim already knows how to handle those type of folks. Yea,you may get an agreement but the midget won't be following it and will do what he wants knowing the US won't actually DO anything.
Obama would be better served if he brought over a plane load of playboy bunnies and gave them to Kim. The little toad would most likely drop dead either then or in the bedroom….either way mission accomplished, no more short dictator.
9:03 am on December 15th, 2008 13
The only people caling Obama a "messiah" are the ones who did not vote for him. Good God, the man has not even set foot in office yet. Time will only tell if he will be respected enough to have shoes thrown at him.
10:22 am on December 15th, 2008 14
I don't know if Obama is the "savior" of Korea, but it's very likely that he won't be having any shoes thrown at him during his trips abroad.
While on the subject of shoes being hurled, I find it unfortunate that GI has not done a post concerning the recent ignominy suffered by that of our soon to depart commander in chief. Could it be because this incident is proof-positive that the war and occupation that GI Korea unabashedly supported is in actuality hated by most Iraqis? Could it be that he simply doesn't want to deal with powerful evidence that shatters his ideological assumptions? I hope that he does a post on this to honestly deal with reality that his assumptions have willfully ignored.
11:29 am on December 15th, 2008 15
Silly.
12:34 am on December 16th, 2008 16
#14
One guy throws shoes and you interpret that as "proof-positive that the war and occupation that GI Korea unabashedly supported is in actuality hated by most Iraqis."
Quite a stretch…
12:49 am on December 16th, 2008 17
I'm not complaining about your big, black negress. I'm not complaining about your little, white pecker. Put whomever you want in the White House. Korea is forever. My life seven years ago continues now no matter what your hate and ignorance do to defile it. By whatever you see; it's all on credit. You and your FuBu and NASCAR are all trash, destined for the conflagration of whatever else is ignorance. Mark G is a racist. He hates everything descended of the Turtle ships.
3:00 am on December 16th, 2008 18
6:12 am on December 16th, 2008 19
DELETED – Not Following Commenting Policy