The Real North Korea by Andrei Lankov

Author:Andrei Lankov [Lankov, Andrei]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2013-04-14T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 4

Survival Diplomacy

The North Korean elite of today finds itself in a peculiar and unenviable position. It cannot reform itself because in a divided nation, Chinese-style reforms are likely to trigger regime collapse, which in turn will bring ruin to the current elite. North Korea is therefore stuck with an outdated economic system that cannot generate growth and sometimes cannot even provide for the sheer physical survival of the country’s population. Hence, the North Korean government has no choice but to seek outside aid just to stay afloat.

This is difficult, since such aid cannot be sought through the channels usually employed by poorer countries—that is, by lobbying international organizations and NGOs. “Normal” aid is not of help to North Korea’s rulers because such aid always comes with conditions that are seldom compatible with their policy goals.

North Korean leaders know that they are unlikely to attract enough aid on politically acceptable conditions if they follow the established explicit and implicit rules of aid-seeking. They have thus decided to bend the rules, playing a myriad of games and using a variety of tools to seek aid on their own terms. While the outside world tends to concentrate on the nuclear issue, one should not forget that while the nuclear card is the best known and most powerful of these diplomatic tools, it is by no means the only one. The diplomatic survival games are played by the North Korean regime with admirable skill, but also with remarkable disregard for humanitarian concerns.

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