End the Korean War

Pyongyang’s march towards a nuke seems to have gone in retreat. The US and the "other" Korea has made a deal.

No more nuclear production. Regular UN inspections. And the oil will start flowing again.

That was the price for a nuclear free North Korea.

If only it were that simple. When it comes to Kim Jong Il getting a nuke the question isn't "if" it's "when."

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Nuclear bombs are the greatest equalizer. Small nation or large makes no difference when the country in question has the ability to launch a 20 Kiloton bomb.

Look at how a small nation like North Korea factors so large on the world's radar at the mere suggestion of it attaining nuclear status... When a tiny country grips the greatest superpower in the world over some plutonium production that's what I call an "equalizer" if there ever was one.

Thinking about this issue I was struck by how everyone goes by the prevailing assumption that a country owning a nuclear weapon is somehow immoral.

Owning a nuclear weapon is not immoral if it is only used in self defense or to deter a war in the first place. The US owns some, the French I'm pretty sure once did, and even Canada used to hold nukes on Canuck soil.

The justification for concern over North Korea attaining nuclear status lies more in it's history. No official peace treaty has ever been signed ending the Korean conflict of the late 40's back in the twentieth. Effectively both of the Koreas have been in a state of war for over 50 years only prevented from attack by an armistice signed around 1952. To this day the Korean Demilitarized zone is still defended by North Korean and South Korean troops.

If an enemy gains a nuclear bomb, I think that should be a definite concern to the party it's still at war with.

North Korea is still an enemy of the US until a formal peace treaty is signed. The issue was never resolved. That's why we should be concerned about a nuclear North Korea.

That being said, we should stop fooling ourselves that somehow we will stop the "other" Korea from getting a nuclear bomb. So long as a nuclear bomb is the greatest equalizer the motivation will always be there for countries like North Korea to build one.

What the focus really should be put on is ending the 50 year long conflict of the Korean war. Until the borders of the Koreas aren't filled with soldiers ready to strike each other we will be fighting with pointless diplomacy.

End the Korean war and the question becomes mute. This agreement is pointless.