North Korea, Terrorism, and the Negotiations
Counterterrorism Blog‘s Aaron Mannes has a piece in today’s NRO on a largely-ignored aspect of the negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear program: its demand to be taken off the list of state sponsors of terrorism. He recaps the DPRK’s long history of sponsoring regional terrorism, directed primarily against the ROK and Japan, most of which I was either unaware or had forgotten.
The ROKs are urging that we accede to this demand, which leaves the ball in Japan’s court. Considering the DPRK’s long and continuing history of kidnapping Japanese nationals, that’s going to be a tough sell.
DPRK demands to be taken off the list of state sponsors of terrorism. Wouldn’t it be better if they acknowledged their past foul deeds and renounced the use of terrorism and kidnapping first?
They stand at the well with a large container of poison. They pour some in and as everyone gasps and grows angry they then start making demands lest they be forced to spill all their poison into the well because of our intransigence and our threatening posture towards them. But hey, we have a deal, right?
Wouldn’t it be better if they acknowledged their past foul deeds and renounced the use of terrorism and kidnapping first?
But what fun would that be?