Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Korean Foresight

I wonder whether the United States government, with the United Nations, has made any plans in the event of a humanitarian disaster on the Korean peninsula.

While the danger of real military conflict has declined in recent weeks, the regime in the north is surely unsustainable, and it would seem that any collapse scenario would present the international community with the same scale of disaster - especially since it could already, now, qualify as a disaster zone. Sooner or later, the international community will need to take responsibility for the essential needs of the North Koreans, and making plans for that eventuality would seem, to me, prudent.

Such planning might also facilitate the collapse of that horrific regime, as it might give confidence to the Chinese that they would not be subject to a massive and uncontrolled surge of refugees, and therefor would allow them to withdraw support for the North Koreans.

An internationally agreed plan, construction of infrastructure in China and South Korea, and massing of resources, would surely reduce the ultimate suffering of the North Korean people, and greatly accelerate their eventual integration into the international community.