The Korean Peninsula
The handshake and the stepping across the line at Panmunjon yesterday were of more than symbolic significance. It passes with more than routine notice: a step on a long road ahead, hopefully between two sovereign nations, together, rather than manipulated by some Greater Power(s).
I’ve written about Korea a few times, most recently here.
A while back I made a rough map to orient myself to this part of the world which has, for the past 65 or so years been neither at war nor at peace.
Korea and environs
(The lavender rectangle on the map was a scale of miles. But think in terms of perhaps 100 miles, east to west. Pyongyang and Seoul, the two capital cities, are not much more than 100 miles apart. This is not a place for idle threats or speculation or insults like “nuke ’em”, “rocket man” or such.)
This morning my favorite compiler of opinions about this and that had a collection of opinions about what happened yesterday at Panmunjon. You can read it here.
The longest leaps often begin with the smallest steps.
Let’s hope those symbolic gestures, yesterday, come to have great historical significance in years to come.
POSTNOTE: This is my first publication since April 11. First, a problem with my writing platform required a rebuild; then that was done and life has been extremely busy. I think I’m mostly back in business. Those who were subscribers will have to resubscribe once a new subscription feature is selected. It’s good to be back, at any rate.
On a related note to the above, there is still room for persons interested in attending the “Forgiveness” dinner with Louisa Hext on Tuesday, May 1. This will be a very good evening. The flier is here:
Any developments that improve the relationship between South and North Korea will be claimed by Trump as proof that his tough guy approach works with dictators and strong men leaders of our opponents. More likely than not, NK has been hurt by the economic sanctions imposed on it by Trump’s predecessors but the tower man with oh so small hands and all will not give them credit for setting the stage and will claim 100% credit for whatever positive may happen on the peninsula….and most Americans will give him full credit for that accomplishment. As long as the economy doesn’t tank, his approval numbers will grow with the success in the peninsula
Well, it’s not worth arguing whether or not Mr. Trump will take credit (or pass blame). I’m most inclined to look at the possibilities when two parties (North and South) actually publicly communicate with each other. Diplomacy is a long-term process, and very complex, and there are some very smart and astute negotiators over many years who have attempted to make sense of this, recognizing the complexities. So, Trump is who he is, and if the American people are duped into believing anything he proclaims, so be it. We deserve better than him, that is for certainl Thanks for feeding in.