Korean Job Discussion Forums

[shouvikdatta]

Hi

Just thought I'd pass on a few thoughts I'd had about the new agreement signed by the two Koreas, plus China, America, Japan and Russia.

The key thing seems to me to be not just the agreement itself, but where it was signed. The fact that it was signed in Beijing, and brokered by the Chinese, would seem to indicate that the Chinese have translated their new economic and industrial strength into increased political and diplomatic clout as well.

The new agreement to supply North Korea with fuel, plus more in return for shutting and sealing reactors, involves countries with borders stretching all the way from the Baltic Sea to the US Atlantic seaboard, and from the Arctic Sea to the Gulf of Mexico.

I think that political and economic power is shifting away from the North Atlantic (East Coast of the US, Canada, plus Western Europe), toward the Pacific: Seattle, California and the countries of the Pacific Rim. That's a seismic shift of fairly historic proportions,

Shouvik Datta.

[Kimchieluver]

This is nothing new. The shift in population in the US has been to the west - southwest for the last 25 years. Pacific Rim growth has far exceeded growth in any other regional portfolio for the last 20 years as well. There was a slow down in the late 90s, but it didn't have anything to do with the EU. China has always been a power player in the region, the fact now that the US shows them MORE respect is due basically to China's acceptance of the US. Your above statement is really old news and nothing profound.

[Ya-ta Boy]

[shouvikdatta]

to: Kimchieluver

Well, it was Nixon who travelled to China in 1973, to shake hands with the Communist leader, Mao: not vice versa. So who really accepts who?

The US is in a position of weakness. It has a ballooning trade deficit (not least with China), and itis stuck in a disastrous, prolonged conflict in Iraq. The US can't really afford to escalate things on the Korean peninsula, so it's partaken in an agreement.

However, I think it's right to say that the population trends the US are not new.

Shouvik.

[Paji eh Wong]

[Kimchieluver]

[mehamrick]

I could be wrong.. but wasn't this deal unofficially brokered between the US and N Korea in Berlin and then brought to China to be formalized?

[shouvikdatta]

[to: Kimchieluver

Well, it was Nixon who travelled to China in 1973, to shake hands with the Communist leader, Mao: not vice versa. So who really accepts who?



My point exactlycolor=orange][/color]

I'm not sure what point itis that you're trying to make. The point I was making was that it was Nixon who had to travel to China in order to shake hands with Mao. Mao, as far as I know, never even stepped outside China while he was the leader, and certainly not to the US.

Over the years since the Nixon visit, US presidents have visited China far more often than Chinese heads of state have gone to Washington.

About the Berlin talks prior to the Beijing meetings, China has hosted the talks, in Beijing, and has arranged for working groups to iron out implementation of the agreement. That pretty much meets any dictionary definition of the term "broker" as far as I know. Also, the Berlin talks were BILATERAL, directly between the US and North Korea. That gives North Korea a level of recognition and international respectability, courtesy of the US itself.

[Kimchieluver]

Well if you can't read you can't read. China has always been a major player in the region and yes it was China that accepted the US. Like I said before this is nothing new.

[shouvikdatta]

Dear Kimchieluver

I can read. I can also appraise the significance of some fairly obvious historical facts. If Nixon has to go to China to shake hands with Mao, he is the one who is accepting Mao, and the better relationship between the two countries is taking place because of, and only because of, that US acceptance.

Before the Nixon visit, the US categorized the People's Republic of China as a sort of outlaw state. It only recognized the government of Taiwan, as the sole government for the whole of China.

That ended with the Nixon visit,

Yours' Sincerely,

Shouvik Datta.

[endofthewor1d]

this is the best argument i've ever seen.

[Kimchieluver]

[endofthewor1d]

[shouvikdatta]

Hi all

Just thought I'd recommend an article/essay in the online "hankyoreh" (type in hankyoreh, at Google). It's titled "A deal in Beijing, The Prospect of Ending the 20th Century in East Asia", and it's by Gavan McCormack, professor Emeritus at Australian National University.

The article pretty much outlines how the US has come under pressure from other major powers in the region to normalize relations with Pyongyang.

One interesting quote is "It may be the the degeneration of the Middle East might also be inclining the US toward an accommodation with China over the boundaries of influence in East Asia". The professor also says: "Itis the US position that moved 180 degrees" with regard to the Berlin and Beijing talks.

Also, the article says Japan feels a bit put out by the agreement as "China assumes greater weight in US thinking".

It's pretty clear there's a new global superpower on the block,

Shouvik Datta.