■"In Koreas, High Hopes for an Industrial Marriage," by James Brooke, New York Times, 20 October 2004, p. W1.
Sounds good, yes? South Korea builds a large industrial park in North Korea. South provides the money and technology and North provides the obedient workers. It is a form of connectivity, and it will—over time—help to subvert Kim's rule.
But will it work fast enough?
Because if it doesn't it's the global equivalent of the Core renting prison labor in the Gap.
What scares me about this effort is not the tech transfer (none appreciable), but simply the Southern mindset regarding a 20-year project.
Does Seoul plan on staring across the DMZ for another 20 years? How many millions will die prematurely as a result on the North's side? And should anyone care now that the Core gets to tap that impoverished labor?
I know, I know, you have to go with connectivity when you can, but it sounds here like the South is doing all the giving and Kim is doing all the taking. Don't kid yourself: the wages transfer across the DMZ will go primarily to propping up his amazingly cruel and maniacal regime.
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