N. Korea & direct talks with US

[rayelias]

I'm pleading ignorance on this one.

What are the reasons that the US is insistant on 6-Way talks with N.Korea and will not have direct one-on-one talks with them?

I'm hoping that I am able to get opinions (from both sides) so I can make my own decision before this thread gets too political. If y'all can enlighten me as to the diplomatic reasons for this (both pro and con) for the first couple pages, then we can all start throwing stones.

 

[Cool-Beans]

Because we can't go after Korea alone. Not that we couldn't win, but it might upset China.

We could no more invade Korea without China's OK than China could invade Canada without ours. Not that China couldn't take Canada, but if they tried and we hadn't consented, we'd go to Canada and fight for them.

Can't just let people into countries near yours without a fight. Never know what might happen. But if Canada were being run by a loon who was starving everyone and threatening to attack China, then we might say, OK, you can come kill the Canadian guys.

Not that anyone would ever threaten, much less attack China!

 

[rayelias]

It makes sense to me that if you have 5 people saying the same thing against the one, that one is not going to be in a good bargaining position.

For some reason, I'm thinking that Kim Jung Il is majorly bluffing and it's one thing to let the US (a fairly ethical country that doesn't want to invade N. Korea) know their position, but if they let China or Russia (much closer neighbors) know how weak they were, it could be much more threatening to them.

This guy is really hard to read. Is he trying to bully us or try to make some back-door deal with us that he doesn't want the rest of the world to know?

I've seen shows that the N. Korean soldiers on the border very regularly "taunt" the US/S. Korean soldiers hoping to start a conflict.

Jeez, I miss the good ol' days of the cold war when MAD (Mutual Assurred Destruction) was a feasable option. The USSR was our enemy, but we both knew the consequences of allowing things to escalate too far.

 

[disneyfan67]

China is one of the major reasons that we are holding out for the 6 way talks. They after all have supported the regime in NK and provided it with aid and weapons over the years. Then you have Japan who is a mortal enemy of NK and would be one of the first targets if a missle was fired. Of course factor in SK who has tried to break the ice with NK over the years but is still considered a enemy. I really think NK would strike Japan before they hit SK, IMO. The one constant with NK is that no one really knows what they are going to do, that includes NK as well. I haven't included Russia into this because I can't see them really helping out in anyway. Aren't they selling NK weapons as well?


Let's face the facts that NK is unstable and their leaders are nuts. Even China has gotten concerned about Kim Jung il, according to published reports. Who knows how true that really is and I wouldn't be suprised to find China secretly behind all of this. It's a mess, that's for sure. The U.S would be affected is something happened but I think Japan and SK are the most worried. They would take the brunt of anything NK could do. I can't see America getting into another ground war with NK, even though we have 70 thousand troops stationed near the DMZ as a human trip wire. I'm curious to see what others here think.


Eddie

 

[disneyfan67]

It makes sense to me that if you have 5 people saying the same thing against the one, that one is not going to be in a good bargaining position.

For some reason, I'm thinking that Kim Jung Il is majorly bluffing and it's one thing to let the US (a fairly ethical country that doesn't want to invade N. Korea) know their position, but if they let China or Russia (much closer neighbors) know how weak they were, it could be much more threatening to them.

This guy is really hard to read. Is he trying to bully us or try to make some back-door deal with us that he doesn't want the rest of the world to know?

I've seen shows that the N. Korean soldiers on the border very regularly "taunt" the US/S. Korean soldiers hoping to start a conflict.

Jeez, I miss the good ol' days of the cold war when MAD (Mutual Assurred Destruction) was a feasable option. The USSR was our enemy, but we both knew the consequences of allowing things to escalate too far.

Good post and I agree with your last statement about the Cold War. Who would ever thought that we would wish for the days of M.A.D? It was so much simpler back then in some ways.

 

[RoyalCanadian]

But if Canada were being run by a loon who was starving everyone and threatening to attack China, then we might say, OK, you can come kill the Canadian guys.

Where were you guys when Canada was being run by a loon?