[KS] Kaplan Article on North Korea

[Clark, Donald]

Thank you, Aidan, for bringing this up.  I read the article over the weekend and while I thought it had some interesting points I was surprised at how little it took into account what South Korea really is doing, hardly (maybe never) mentioned the Sunshine Policy or any of its benefits (or shortcomings) to date, and, like you, I was impressed with how much he depended on views from USFK/Yongsan which, to my great annoyance, he actually referred to once as Seoul's "Green Zone." I normally learn a lot from Robert Kaplan so I was disappointed in this article and its treatment of North Korea's "collapse" as imminent--a questionable assumption right there.  
     Of course things change over time, and North Korea (or as he calls it the Kim Family Regime [KFR]) will change too, but then so will China.  The United States could even change(!) So I didn't see what this drive-by assessment of the "KFR" adds.  
Don

Donald N. Clark, Ph.D.
Professor of History and 
Co-Director, East Asian Studies at Trinity (EAST)
Trinity University
One Trinity Place
San Antonio, TX 78212-7200
Tel::  +1 (210) 999-7629 
Fax:  +1 (210) 999-7305