Page 51 - NKHR Hawaii Conference 2023

when you see both of them with Xi Jinping as well. So why are they doing this? Because
it works.

We’ve heard several people talk today about distractions and the other problems around
the globe. Gaza, Ukraine, concerns about Cross-Strait issues. T ese are all valid concerns.
But if you scratch the surface, in many cases you’ll f nd a North Korean connection in the
middle of it. When you hear about rocket-propelled grenades being f red by Hamas into
these settlements, those grenades in all likelihood were coming from North Korea. Greg
Scarlatoiu has written a great article on that that I would recommend to you.

When you talk about the Russian shelling of Ukrainian villages, we all know now that a
lot of that ammunition is coming from North Korea. And when we worry about Cross-
Strait developments, one of our biggest concerns is that if there is a conflict between
China and Taiwan, North Korea would use that to take advantage to come South and it’s
also true in reverse. If there’s a problem on the Korean Peninsula, China might use that
to go against Taiwan. So there’s a North Korea element to almost every security situation
out there and we need to keep that in mind.

A quick word about North Korean strategy. I’ve described North Korean strategy as a
man holding a gun pointing to his head and saying,

“Stop or I’ll shoot.”

It is sort of disconcerting. But the reality is, that there are 25 million South Koreans and
tens of thousands of Americans and other international people living within artillery
range of North Korea. So the reason we don’t want him to pull that trigger is not because
we wouldn’t like to see North Korea disappear, but what is called “collateral damage”:
the damage against the people of South Korea, the damage against the international
community and the damage against the poor people of North Korea. One of the realities,
one of Kim Jong Un’s leverages if you will, in dealing with us, is that the international
community, the Americans, and the South Koreans, all care more about the plight of the
North Korean people than the North Korean leadership does.

We have to destroy that leverage. We have to get beyond that leverage. How do we do
that? I think you heard quite a few discussions here today about how we need to put the
pressure back on North Korea and remind people of their human rights violations.

In dealing with North Korea some people say,

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