KK called together a brunch together to meet CK, who was in town to share his story w/some NK policymakers in DC. I'd have to say JP is the king of analogies. Aside from no one wanting to touch the NK issue among policy circles these days, JP pointed out the current problem w/NK analysis.
Analogy #1: In medicine, there are 3 stages when approaching sick patients: diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring. Regarding North Korea, everyone is focused on treatment without knowing what the correct diagnosis is. There just isn't any solid diagnosis of the problem. Part of the problem is there's not enough information. Nor will the patient let us make a diagnosis. We may look back 10 years from now and find that the treatment we were applying today were silly. 150 years ago, medical textbooks recommended bleeding patients to remove the bad blood (think about the procedure to save President Lincoln). In ancient times, doctors drilled holes in patient's heads (a procedure known as trepanation) to mental diseases. How can we provide diagnosis (i.e. understand N.Korea better) so we don't provide silly treatments?
Analogy #2: This was JP's advice to CK. NK experts are like a Star Trek convention: A nerdy bunch fixated on a narrow problem who only leave home when there's a Trekkie convention. CK needs to reach out to people outside this group to be effective, and to get ideas. Perhaps this means working through Singapore, or Norway. Something I learned today was the prospect of wind turbines for electricity in NK. Apparently Norway was also once a poor, backwards country, but once they discovered wind turbines to generate electricity, the mining industry flourished. Norway apparently has an interest in development work in NK.
Also, the Congressmen most noted for NK work (Ed Royce, Sam Brownback) may not be the best people to approach in setting up a business venture, or development projects in NK. Oskar Schindler may be an excellent example or analogy in promoting HR. Schindler may have wanted to save Jews, but initially he was running a business, and he needed Jews to stay alive to operate his factories. The survivors and relatives of Schindler's Jews may be open to helping the NK human rights cause, b/c it speaks to their own experiences.
