Recent history, relations show current actions unable to stabilize North Korea
China has a population of 1.3 billion, a gross domestic product of $7.3 trillion and a standing army of almost 1.6 million people. It also has advanced missile technology and more than 200 nuclear weapons.
In comparison, North Korea has a population of 24 million, a GDP of $40 billion and a standing army of almost 1 million people. It, however, has nearly passed Rocketry 101 (they somehow managed to propel a hunk of metal shaped like a satellite into orbit in 2012 that’s incapable of sending or receiving transmissions into space, where it has been tumbling without any guidance or stabilization system ever since), and has almost one nuclear weapon.
Why does the United States seem to fear North Korea, concentrating military force in South Korea and Japan in preparation for a potential second Korean War, but not China?
The answer is probably stamped on your phone or computer or desk or just about anything else. China couldn’t go to war with the United States because its economy would crash with no one to buy its products. The United States couldn’t go to war with China because then who would make our iPhones?
Countries don’t attack countries they trade with because it’s bad business. When the United States trades with China, both sides benefit (they get an influx of capital and we get cheap goods). If war happens, that trade stops and both sides lose, so they don’t go to war.
If trade brings peace, why aren’t we trying to gain peace with North Korea through trade sanctions? Proponents of these sanctions say they encourage targets to come to the bargaining table by starving them out.
That might work here in America, where a hungry populous would demand change from the government, but it hasn’t worked and won’t work as well in North Korea, where starving is just a part of life.
Economic sanctions against North Korea started 1950 as part of the 1949 “Export Control Act” and have continued ever since, progressively increasing in severity. These sanctions have not succeeded in stopping North Korea from pursing nuclear weapons or from attempting to develop long-range missile systems. They have succeeded in further isolating North Korea from the rest of the world, as well as fueling anti-American sentiment both within Pyongyang and the North Korean people (who can blame at least a portion of their hunger on the sanctions).
When the United States came to South Korea’s aid in the 1950s, the alliance was initially fairly begrudging, a “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” situation. However, increasing trade between the two countries has dramatically increased relations so we now have a hardy bond with South Korea. After nearly 65 years of failed economic sanctions, maybe it’s time we tried doing the same with the North.