Solving Problems

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How do you solve a problem like . . . North Korea.

With apologies to Rodgers and Hammerstein, that tune from “Sound of Music” has been cycling through my head all day. Of course, the original is a problem like Maria, who has the nuns flummoxed because she keeps failing to follow the rules, not so much in a spirit of rebellion as in a sort of absent-minded impulsiveness.

Sounds kind of like Pyongyang, doesn’t it, although the spirit of rebellion is definitely present in our relations with Kim Jong Il. But at one time it appeared to me that so much of what Kim was doing was the result of immaturity. I thought he might grow into the leadership of his country and learn to get along with us. He was a spoiled child whose indulgent parent had died, but he wasn’t really a bad boy.

He showed us that when he negotiated with the Clinton administration to exchange his nuclear program for food for his starving people. Unfortunately, the Bush administration reneged on part of the deal and Kim began to pout and stamp his feet. But like a spoiled child, he still could have been talked back into a better frame of mind.

Then he had that stroke. If he’s still alive, he’s more than likely the captive of one group or another, and they’re calling the shots. Now we have to deal with some very bad players.

We have seen the result: atomic explosions and missile launches – plus the repudiation of a treaty that has maintained a sort of peace for more than 50 years. Can we afford to wait to see what comes next? Already there is a faction here that wants us to nuke North Korea before it can nuke South Korea or, worse, us. A less extreme group wants to invade, trusting that the resulting turmoil in the North Korean government won’t lead to a mushroom cloud – at least not one on our soil.

Obama, as always, will act with restraint. He may talk tough, but talk he will before he does anything. I think that’s a good thing. In fact, that mind-set is one of the things I find most appealing about him. He thinks things through carefully before he acts. He is never irrational – or impulsive.

Let’s hope we can say the same about whoever is in charge in North Korea these days.
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