north korea.

so, north korea finally came out of the closet and said they have nuclear weapons. why isn't this a bit surprising? first, they hint at the idea by saying they have the means to produce nuclear weapons a couple of weeks back. now, almost sheepishly, admit that they have nukes. so, the question is "what in the world happened?" what happened was failed foreign policy. much to my own regret (see The Puzzle Behind the DPRK’s Decision to Sign the Agreed Framework"), the "contain and embrace" policy adopted by the previous clinton administration, and the current korean president's so-called sunshine policy has not achieved what it hoped to do: prevent north korea from obtaining nuclear weapons.

the year was 1994, when the u.s. and south korea thought it was a good idea to offer north korea fuel and food in exchange for their word on halting their nuclear weapons program. having dealt with iraq only three years ago, the u.s. thought it needed to take quick action on north korea's rising interest in nukes. so, north korea happily obliged and got tons of oil (literally) and large amounts of grain to help with their famine problem (which ironically only worsened the problem as most of the food went to feed the military). north korea just went with it and "pretended" that it stopped its program. all the while, getting what they need to survive, and keeping their ambitious nuclear project running.

so, if history tells us anything, appeasement or any forms thereof doesn't work too well in preventing further aggression. the "contain and embrace" policy failed. will this open the doors for a "zero tolerance" policy? only time will tell. God help us.