North Korea's Nuclear Claims To Get Attention Are A Poor Excuse For A Failure To Join The World Community

North Korea may feel that it is gaining some attention from the world community by their claims of a nuclear test, however this is a very poor way to gain respect. Both China and South Korea have become huge economic powerhouses and have gained huge world respect through massive production of goods such as clothing, computers, automobiles, electronics. On the other hand the economy of North Korea remains stick in the worst of third world levels. The GNP of North Korea is just $40 billion dollars, while China's is $8.855 trillion dollars, second only to the United States' $12.35 GNP. South Korea has ane economy with a $994 billion dollar GNP or 14th overall in the world.

The leadership of North Korea still orders the execution of persons for merely attempting to contact the outside world, and demands strict loyalty to the state. Without the freedom to contact the outside world, little investment ever comes to North Korea, and the economy remains stuck and never really grows. Outside of exports of short range Scud based missiles to nations such as Iran, North Korea has grossly failed to develop any consumer goods based manufacturing like it's neighbors South Korea and China which export huge amounts of goods to countries like the U.S. and worldwide. As China further develps it's economy, the Communism style of North Korea makes less and less sense. And China finds itself as the main food supplier to North Korea, where even agriculture has grossly failed.

Some years back some talk of a peaceful reunification of both North and South Korea was discussed. This seems like an idea that will solve many of the problems of the North. Poverty and starvation can be greatly helped if the leaders of North Korea would be willing to give up power and unite the nation that has been seperated since the 1950's war. Eastern Germany was stuck in 1950's economuc conditions, but has quickly caught up with the Western part since the reunification of Germany.

The leadership of North Korea needs to realize that old style silly sabre rattling is no longer how power is determined in the world. Despite the flood of imports that overwelm the American ports, North Korea should realize that this is how power is defined in the modern world. North Korea would be far better off to join this parade of imports to the U.S. rather than look for a MidEast or African dictator to sell a Scud missile or two to.

The best interests of North Korea would be to become men in business suits like the Chinese Communists have become and sell manufactured goods to the Western world. All the job losses to the U.S. economy haven't been great for the American worker, but they have provided consumers with low cost goods from labor cheap Asian nations such as China and made some American and Chinese capitalists very wealthy. North Korea might as well join this parade of other nations to sell goods to the U.S. This would certainly be better than the path that they're on now, which can olny lead to more isolation, more poverty and more pain for the people of North Korea. The possibility of military miscalculation also makes the present path one to try something new and to change. A primitive economy mostly built around a huge military of one million plus members for a tiny nation of just 23 million makes no sense at all.