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Impact of Corean Unification
(Updated Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:52:31 PM)

t's been over a decade since the Iron Curtain came crashing down in Europe. The Bamboo Curtain is little more than a quaint phrase. Yet the Cold War remains very much alive on the Corean (Korean for those who prefer the colonial spelling) peninsula.
     Across a 186-mile DMZ glare opposing armies collectively totaling 1.7 million. By all reckoning the Pyongyang regime should have become ideological roadkill following the collapse of communism. Instead, it remains an impregnable roadblock to the economic integration of East Asia, the world's fastest-growing region.
     How can an economic nonentity be such a roadblock?
     Consider its location at what should have been the crossroads of East Asia. With 56% of the peninsula's land mass, North Corea separates on one side the world's greatest market and labor pool (China) and the biggest reserve of natural resources (Sibera) from, on the other, two of the world's leading technological and manufacturing nations (Japan and South Corea).
     But for Pyongyang's intransigence Seoul would already be linked by railroads and superhighways to Beijing, Moscow, Berlin, Paris and London. All those cities would also be linked to Tokyo via a bridge across the 126-mile strait dividing Shimonoseki from Pusan. The savings in shipping cost and time alone could amount to tens of billions of dollars a year. Such a trans-Eurasian land link would accelerate the cultural and economic integration of not only East Asia, but the world. In the process, the Corean peninsula would shed the burden of financing the world's most heavily fortified frontier and become the center of the global economy.
     That's the vision dancing before the eyes of farsighted statesmen and business leaders pushing for the political leaps of faith needed to keep Pyongyang taking its unsteady baby steps toward opening North Corea.
     But skeptics and pessimists abound. Even a loose confederation with the North would only burden and destabilize South Corea's economy and political system, they argue. For decades to come the impact on the global economy would be entirely negative as investors and customers begin shunning the uncertainties, denying capital and trading partners to hundreds of world-class Corean manufacturers. The ultimate result, argue the naysayers, would be to throw a monkey wrench into an alignment that has allowed three decades of strong growth for East Asia.
     What is the likely impact of Corean unification?

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WHAT YOU SAY

[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
Geoff DB,

Bush has definity screws things up. Can we get Hilary into office and ask Bill to run things behind office again?
AC Dropout
   Monday, February 10, 2003 at 11:18:58 (PST)    [24.136.115.189]
ka,

Christainity and modern medicine are at odds. Haven't you heard of a particular sect of Christians that refuse modern medicine, becuase they feel it is not right for us to play God.

Actually the leap was the "scientific method" for the west that lead to such quick advancement. It is pure number crunching when the scientific method is used to solve a problem.

Asia fell behind due to it inability to question the very foundation of the belief system. Which of course lead to the various cultural upheavals in thoughout Asia.

Any person who wishes to question the universe at some point must leave organized religon, for it is too stifling to the mind. Scientist usually call upon God only when discoveries that have aspects of elegance and symmetry are observed.
AC Dropout
   Monday, February 10, 2003 at 09:23:35 (PST)    [24.136.115.189]
"If we should ever get bacterial infection, you can stick with your "Tao" acupunture needles, but I will say "no thank you" and stick to my "Jesus H Christ" antibiotics syringe."

Wow, you've really been brainwashed by the Western allopathic mafia haven't you? I haven't taken ANY medicine in about 17 years and I RARELY get sick. Whereas all the pill-poppers I know get sick ALL THE TIME. Notice how allopathic medicine is on the DECLINE and alternative medicine is on the UP lately? It's b/c people are finally ralizing that profit-driven allopathic medicine DOESN'T WORK VERY WELL. Keep sticking with it and you'll figure it out in the long run...

And don't even get me started on Christianity - it's a mental virus as far as I'm concerned.
Fools laugh at the Tao
   Monday, February 10, 2003 at 05:54:58 (PST)    [148.104.5.7]
AC Dropout,

I'm afraid that George Bush has placed us in a jam.

Part of it is his fault, part is Clinton's fault, but the majority of the blame resides with that totalitarian nutcase Kim Jong II.

When Bush came out with his axis of evil statement against North Korea, it put them on alert that the US is coming after them. Bush is not a smart man, and he's even more dimwitted for allowing his conservative/hawkish base to dictate Asian foreign policy.

Many authorities, including scholars/analysts with the American Interprise Institute believe that North Korea is bluffing and that internal unease is causing Kim Jong to press the US for direct negotiations.

I do not believe that North Korea is bluffing. North Korea knows that Iraq is the US first target, but that they will be the next target. They are most certainly correct.

They see this as a critical issue and one that will determine their survival/sovereignty.

My guess is that they will make a military move as soon as the US makes a first strike against Iraq. We have the USS Carl Vinson carrier battle group near Japan as a deterrent. Rumsfeld has also ordered additional bombers to Guam. That will not be enough.

All this BS about America being able to fight two wars at once is not going to set well with American voters once the casualties start mounting. War is hell and we're in for a hell of a time fighting Iraq and North Korea, simultaneously.
Geoff DB
GeoffDB02@aol.com    Sunday, February 09, 2003 at 13:35:44 (PST)    [172.192.48.15]
ka,

So why doesn't the USA use its influence to allow the NK to enter the WTO.

Don't play a blind eye.

So why did SK hurt ROC by cutting dilopmatic ties and travel with Taiwan for normal relationship with PRC. ROC is a allie of USA? Your cold war division logic makes very little sense in the 21st century.

With the USA exerting it political muscle on NK. It's as free as Cuba.

As if the USA stands on the moral high ground with NK. Come off it. This country I reside in is morally bankrupt from its Cold War dealings. Saddam, Noriaga, Bin Laden, etc. were our creations. SK and NK were also our creations. Shouldn't the country that created NK, SK and DMZ, also be the country to resolve it problem. It is our mess in the whole place.

The fact of the matter is, USA latest blunder was back out of it contracts with NK and has forced NK into its current situation with Bush's "no negotiation" stance.

The fact of the matter with trade sanctions on NK from the #1 country on the planet is quite devasting.

Your comments remind me of some white partners I use to work for. Sure they weren't activity trying to hurt my career. But they weren't activity trying to help it either. Same difference.

But the USA is definitely activity trying to hurt the NK.
AC Dropout
   Sunday, February 09, 2003 at 12:51:28 (PST)    [24.136.115.189]
AC Dropout,

You wrote:
"The USA stands for police brutality to the blacks. The USA stands for underachievement in acedemics. The USA stands for unilateral military action against Arabs. You're right China does not stand for these things."

Have you been to China? Have you seen the police brutality there -- against not only minorities, such as Uiggers and Tibetans, but against Han Chinese themselves?

Unilateral military action? That has yet to occur, in the case of Iraq. But in previous decades, China has been at least as involved as the US in military adventurism -- look at China's involvement in Vietnam, N. Korea, Cambodia, attempted revolutions in Indonesia, Africa.

Finally, you seem to suggest China's has a superior education system/academics. Hello! Where do you think China learned just about EVERYTHING? All of China's top scientists studied in the US and Russia -- and all of China's top students continue to come here. Go visit Chinese schools -- they're still light years behind the US (though, admittedly, Chinese are great memorizers, counterfeiters, and plagiarizers).
gweilo
   Sunday, February 09, 2003 at 09:54:45 (PST)    [65.96.165.89]
I Ching

earlier you wrote,

> his Kingdom, where there will be no democracy or freedom.

Actully, its better than that, there is NO individual free choice, even on earth - we are all playing by God rules and on God's playground. We are just monkeys on a treadmill.

Tigger still has the final say on this topic, neither you nor I have not topped it: >Because Christianity concerns itself with the real and ultimate truth it is confrontational, but shouldn't everyone seek the truth?<
Ny^+^boy
   Saturday, February 08, 2003 at 23:10:20 (PST)    [24.90.48.98]
I Ching, contrary what you might think, i'm not a bible-thumping moralist. But you equate Western with American, and also Christianity with Western. But if you look at any kind of census information, you will find that the general population of Europe is leaving the church pews. This is true in Western Europe as it is true in Eastern Europe. America is an exemption, as it indeed is much more christian then Europe. (But america remains richer and more powerful then Europe--although I doubt it's anything to do with the will of God)

And it is completely true once again, that Christianity was the cause of some of the world's most gruesome atrocities--as is true for other world religions including Jucheism, Buddhism, Islam, Maoism(yes it's a religion folks), etc.

Is secularism so much better? Is atheism really better? well, we certainly won't have wars over religion for sure, but isn't that sort of like saying, we should all speak the same language, eat the same food, dress the same clothes, and homogenize our human race--so that we will never have ethnic strife?

I believe in freedom. Therefore I believe in the freedom of beliefs including atheism, satanism(just don't kill me, but if you have orgies in your own bedroom, what do I care), and yes, even confucianism and taoism. (although I draw the line with Jucheism. ha ha)

Something for you to think about. Chinese medicine was years ahead of Western medicine during Tang times. Why is it then, Chinese medicine hardly made any progress, but "chrisitan" western medicine made so much progress? I'm sure you would know this, but Chinese medicine is heavily imbued with Taoist philosophy in things like acupuncture. If we should ever get bacterial infection, you can stick with your "Tao" acupunture needles, but I will say "no thank you" and stick to my "Jesus H Christ" antibiotics syringe.
ka
   Friday, February 07, 2003 at 12:47:32 (PST)    [168.103.182.191]
AC,

US and her cold war allies indeed did refuse to trade with NK as a Soviet ally.

In retaliation during the same cold war, Soviet and her allies refused to trade with US and her allies INCLUDING SK. So if you are going to go on bashing US for "trade sanctions" against NK, Why did Mao Ze Dong harm SK economy with trade sanctions? This simple logic will probably elude you as all talk of economics seems to be too much for your philosophical studies background.

Furthermore, even during these times, NK was free to trade with non-aligned nations.

Today, NK is free to trade with and is not limited to Iran, Yemen, China, Russia, Japan, and many many African states to my knowledge. In fact, it EVEN trades with SK. So what trade SANCTION are you talking about with US? You don't know, because you thought you read this somewhere on your leftist pamphlets--pamphlets written by pseudo-scholars who don't have any sense of academic integrity or the sense to back up their argument with fact checking.

Remember the news some time ago when US seized ships from NK selling Scuds to Yemen? US HAD to let it go under international laws WHICH IT ABIDES BY, lest it wants to lose Yemen as a friendly nation. N Korea on the otherhand, kidnaps foreign nationals for espionage purposes--clearly violating any kind of human sense of morality.

You seem to have changed your debating tactics from fact creation, endless digressions, and ignoring rebuttles. I will engage in an ad hominem attack on your all-so-wise nyc magnate school educated self--you seem to have changed your debating tactics to an endless loop of "Trade sanctions? Economics... too.. herd... don't understand... AMERICA DID IT!"

So as for America's selling of weapons, why should I answer your rebuttles when you won't answer mine?
ka
   Friday, February 07, 2003 at 12:30:45 (PST)    [168.103.182.191]
nydcboy,

"You do have a perculiar lefty bent. hehehe"

Now now no need to comment on other people's penises. Let's keep the discussion above the belt. hehehe.

"We all know what US is and what it stand fors. What does China stand for?"

The USA stands for police brutality to the blacks. The USA stands for underachievement in acedemics. The USA stands for unilateral military action against Arabs. You're right China does not stand for these things.

Maybe that is why it has normal relationships with NK and SK. While the USA does not.
AC Dropout
   Friday, February 07, 2003 at 08:25:24 (PST)    [24.136.115.189]

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