Getting Beyond the Impasse

Kim and Feffer's article is very critical of the Bush administration's handling of the North Korea situation. They feel that the administration is hypocritical in their polices and that they still try to skirt around the issue rather than seek a solution, even with the Six Party Talks. They explain how North Korea is very reluctant to make any concessions until they get some kind of guarantee that they will get something in return, so far the US and Japan have been hesistant to change their policies towards North Korea.

Klinger defends the Bush administration (and South Korea's) by saying that there needs to be some type of North Korean accountibility before any of the polices laid out in the Six Party Talks be implemented. He thinks that the new South Korean president Lee will be a better player than the former South Korea president Roh because Lee will run the country like a business and not be as unfocused in his dealings with North Korea as Roh was.

I think that Kim and Feffer make a better argument, they don't "sugar-coat" the situation as much as the Bush Administration does. I think that the way they talk about North Korea seems more logical and realistic than Klinger's. It takes into account other reasons why North Korea is acting the way they're acting.