[LoBlo]

In the program above they mentioned the casualties of the first Korean war toped 1million people on both sides (35000 of those American). It also estimates that a current conflict, in which one side would actually win over the other, would incur an estimated 100,000+ American casuaties... even worst than the 60,000+ casualties of Vietnam, and those estimates are probably conservative.

N. Korea knows that its economy is in poverty and its people are peasants... it also knows that this represents an eventual powder keg in which it will inevitably face insurrection and revolution from its own citizens, or interference from outside to the point its regime topples. The development of nukes is a direct result of the governments need to ensure it can maintain power as long as possible.

The best possilbe resolution for N. Korea would be the modernization of its economy and infrastructure as exemplified by the currently exploding Chinese economy. But, as shown in the article above, despite the fact that the Clinton administration were making progress toward the beginning of that goal (at least making it a possilbly foreseaable goal) as soon as the Bush administration took control the headway made was lost and the situation on the pennisula is at a low point it had not been at in decades... bah.

The Bush administration refused to even open up diplomatic talks with N.Korea and forbid any of its statemen from doing so... and even as a Texan that voted for Bush, I myself can see that this is just plain idiocy...

It will be interesting to see how future US administrations develop a relationship with N. Korea; whether they will reinitiate the previous policies of the former Clinton administration, continue with the current "none relationship" of the Bush administration, or adopt some new and unique stance. We'll just have to wait and see.