QandO

March 05, 2004

I bet he's huge in Germany, too
Posted by Jon Henke

Here's an endorsement you won't be seeing on his website...

North Korea's state-controlled media are well known for reverential reporting about Kim Jong-il, the country's dictatorial leader.

But the Dear Leader is not the only one getting deferential treatment from the communist state's propaganda machine: John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic candidate, is also getting good play in Pyongyang.

In the past few weeks, speeches by the Massachusetts senator have been broadcast on Radio Pyongyang and reported in glowing terms by the Korea Central News Agency (KCNA), the official mouthpiece of Mr Kim's communist regime.

On a somewhat more serious note, this passage should give us every indication of why NoKo would prefer Kerry to Bush...

...both Mr Kerry and Mr Bush are committed to North Korean disarmament. Mr Kerry, however, would renew bilateral negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang, while Mr Bush has sought to manage the conversation with North Korea through multilateral talks. Mr Kerry has also been more forthright about setting out the economic rewards for North Korea if it disarms.

At this point, we simply don't know. With any rational actor, we might expect rational responses. With Kim Jong-Il, we simply don't know.

Me? I'd rather we didn't repeat the mistakes of the Agreed Framework, wherein we gave North Korea the bank, without requiring them to disarm....verifiably.

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