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SLUG: 3-480 E. Han Kim/Korea
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DATE=01/09/03 TYPE=INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT TITLE=E. HAN KIM, SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW, WILLIAM DAVIDSON INSTITUTE; DIRECTOR EAST ASIA MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT CENTER, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN. NUMBER=3-480 BYLINE=TOM CROSBY DATELINE=WASHINGTON INTERNET= /// Editors: This interview is available in Dalet under SOD/English News Now Interviews in the folder for today or yesterday /// INTRO: The Bush administration is prodding the North Korean government to engage in direct talks, but stresses the end result has to be North Korea abandoning its nuclear weapons development program. E. Han Kim says, there needs to be less public posturing by both sides, and more serious talk going on behind the scenes. He is a senior research fellow at the William Davidson Institute and director of the East Asia Management Development Center at the University of Michigan. He tells V-O-A's Tom Crosby, there is a large divide between the two sides. MR. KIM: I think, both of them are so far apart, in terms of what they are willing to give and take, but dialogue is always good. I think, it is always good to keep talking to each other. That is always the preferred method of resolving disagreement and conflict. But, I wouldn't be surprised that the dialogue would be much more effective, if it is conducted behind the scenes, rather than openly, in the public. For example, the way all this tough talking has been going back and forth between the U-S and North Korea has not been productive at all. It has been very counterproductive. And I do hope that there is a serious dialogue going on behind the scenes. MR. CROSBY: You have written that one of the things we here in the West need to realize is that North Korea has a pair of economies -- a military one and a social one. How does it have two separate economies, as you see it? MR. KIM: Because that is not a normal democratic society. And it is a society where the civilians are controlled by force. And for the force, you need the military. And to make sure that the military behave as the dictator would like them to, you must take care of them. But given the incredibly scarce resources that are available in North Korea, there is no way they can evenly distribute them to both the civilian sector and the military sector. They are obviously giving a much higher preferential treatment to the military. And certainly, they cannot let the military go starving and hope to control them. So, out of the necessity to control the public, they have to form two economies, one for the military and one for the civilians. And in this case, obviously the civilian economy is being completely neglected. MR. CROSBY: Does this suggest, though, in your mind that if there is to be a dialogue, it needs to be both with leaders of the civilian social sector and with military leaders? MR. KIM: I think, in the case of North Korea, it is really Kim Jong-il; all he needs to control North Korea at this time is to control the military. And from what I hear and read, it appears that what he is concerned with is really taking care of the military, which will prolong his grip on the North Korean people. And I think, given the current political structure in North Korea, I'm not really sure civilians in North Korea will have any meaningful voice in the process. MR. CROSBY: You have also said that this is not a foolish man, Kim Jong-il, and that he may be following an example set by his father, who managed to play Russia and China off against each other -- or the Soviet Union and China against each other. What kind of a game do you think he is playing? MR. KIM: He is very smart, actually, when it comes to this kind of playing games, and what he needs for him to continue his grip on the North Korean people. And right now, it is the perfect timing for him to start playing the South Koreans and the neighbors against the United States. That is the lesson he learned very well from his father. And, unfortunately, in this particular case, our President, George Bush, really helped him to get this perfect timing, by making unnecessary statements. I do not disagree with Mr. Bush's statement that North Korea is an evil empire. That's true. But there is no reason and no purpose in Mr. Bush's public announcement, calling for confrontation from North Korea, by including them in one of the three 'axis of evil.' OUTRO: E. Han Kim of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan. VNN/RS/NEB/TW |
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