Quote

The Unites States used to use law enforcement to aggressively target North Korea illicit activities - counterfeiting U.S. currency, drug-running, counterfeit cigarettes and pharmaceuticals - until diplomacy gutted those efforts. The effort should be reinvigorated.

In basic training we had been told to watch out for Japanese spies.

Occasionally, the horrors of life in North Korea do show up in our American satire.

The United States depends on South Korea and Japan to help promote American values in East Asia.

I'd known that the visit would be highly scripted and that genuine interactions with citizens wouldn't be possible, since it's illegal for them to speak with foreigners. Still, I'd thought I'd had a unique look at North Korea, only to discover I was wrong.

What Americans can't face is that one of the reasons that the Russians and the Chinese were so impressed with us during the Cold War was the fact that Nixon and Kissinger went on bombing despite public reaction.

There's the assumption being made by the national security advisers to the Obama administration that the North Korean leadership is not suicidal, that they know they will be obliterated if they attacked the United States. But I would point that everything in South Korea and Japan is well within range of what they might want to do.

I have no spy stories to tell, because I saw no spies. Nor did I understand, at that time, any opposition between American and Russian national interest.

I would not suggest the U.S. should sit down with the North Koreans bilaterally immediately after they've fired missiles - because the appearance is that you reward bad behavior. But if North Korea behaves for some period of time, I would pretty much favor direct talks.