Dealing with the (Oc)cult

Dealing with the (Oc)cult


North Korea’s recent artillery attack on South Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island is symptomatic of a country that is habitually a sociopathic society. One of the biggest hurdles to effecting change there is the cult of personality that passes for North Korean government. Unlike most communist nations that have some sort of plan in place, no matter how vague, for a transition of leadership, in North Korea, the power has stayed in the Kim family. Ergo, there has been little opportunity to engage anyone in the North Korean government.

But this may be about to change. The Beloved Leader, Kim Jong Il, is about to pass the mantle of leadership to a member of his immediate family, his youngest son, Kim Jong Un. And this time, there is an unprecedented chance to get inside the inner workings of the North Korean government to begin what can only be likened to putting the whole country in a decompression chamber.

Another one of the biggest obstacle to bringing change to North Korea has been the patronage afforded by their relationship with the Soviet Union and China. No matter what, the North always had these two to stand by it. But the Soviet Union is now history, and China, once a Hermit Kingdom itself, has embraced a pseudo-capitalistic economy, and has healthy economic ties with both the United States and North Korea’s arch nemesis, South Korea.

Nonetheless, China still maintains strong ties to North Korea, and it has a strong influence on that country. It is this influence that the United States and other countries in the region have been urging Beijing to use to rein in this rogue state, a move that China seems reluctant to make.

So North Korea, like a spoiled child, is able to rattle its sabre whenever it chooses, and the world seems helpless, even in the wake of overt acts of war. Any military response, it is reasoned, would lead to a resumption of the Korean War that ended in 1953 in a cease-fire, a war that would make Iraq look like a walk in the park. Seoul, the South’s capital, is within easy reach of the North’s potent artillery and a massive amount of damage could be inflicted, damage that could easily endanger South Korea’s economy and, by extension, the world’s economy.

If change is to come to North Korea, it must come slowly, much the same way a deep-sea diver undergoes decompression when returning to the surface. What with the impending change in leadership, China, working with their new allies, now has a chance to see the emergence of a new North Korea.

China must act quickly to establish close ties with Kim Jong Un. He must be made aware of the fact that the situation within his country must change. First, China, the U. S., Japan, and South Korea must pledge that the North will not be subject to any attacks. Secondly, China must emphasize its own struggle with change, a change that has seen it emerge as one of the world’s great powers. Then China must promise to help the North begin this change within its own borders.

This effort has a chance to succeed by bringing the Hermit Kingdom out of its shell and back into the community of nations.