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Selig Harrison: Lee Myung Bak “Invited” Cheonan Attack

I don’t know whether North Korea torpedoed the Cheonan, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it did. Lee Myung Bak has invited retaliation by repudiating the commitment to coexistence and eventual confederation enshrined in the two summit declarations negotiated with Kim Dae Jang and Roh Moo Hyun. [Selig Harrison in the Hanky]

Did this widely-quoted North Korea “expert” just excuse an unprovoked sneak attack that killed 46 South Korean sailors?

This is not meant as an excuse for the North if it is proved guilty.

Thanks for clearing that up for us, Selig. I ask again: what competent journalist or responsible editor would ever quote a fringe lunatic like this, one whose judgments about North Korea are almost invariably wrong?

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11 Responses

  1. Lets put this into perspective Mr. Harrison, So if the ROK stops sending the DPRK unconditional and unaccountable aid, then North Korea has every valid excuse to blow up South Korean naval ships? Honestly, just wow.

  3. I’d love to heckle this vile apologist for a murderous regime next time he speaks in the DC area on a weekend.

  4. Mr. Harrison must accept implications of the adage, “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander,” and thereby agree that the North has now also “invited retaliation.”

    Jeffery Hodges

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  5. North Korea must realize that the ROK is about to disclose their evidence that the North Koreans were behind the sinking of the Cheonan and thus are trotting out their useful idiots like Harrison for damage control.

  6. Mr. Harrison is right, just not for the reasons he speaks of.

    And… doing close to nothing in response to the first attack will be what invites the second.

  7. “Eventual confederation” Mr. Harrison? Was the ROK supposed to provide welfare to the Juche state for the next 40 years while KJI’s 26 year old heir was deified as the next Juche god for the next generation of North Koreans? Was that supposed to convince the North to abandon its idolatry and forced compliance with the cult? Just keep spreading that Sunshine Policy around and eventually they’ll want to reunify under the auspices of a free ROK-led government?

    Perhaps the confederation Mr. Harrison is referring to the ROK surrendering to the DPRK.

  8. You brainwashed americans belive Tonkinincident was real too huh? You americans never stops to amaze you swallow everything your media tells you. How about the international laws US and South korea breach when they having these provoking wargames?
    Bloody hypocrites!

  9. Sorry for feeding the troll, Joshua, but I’ve got to ask John/Sweden a couple questions.

    First, though, let me say I don’t believe the Tonkin Incident was real (I was not even a zygote at the time, so I’ve only read of it), and I’m not entirely convinced that, say, one of KJI’s past acts of terror actually happened the way we are told either.

    But this begs the question: If this is a Gulf of Tonkin-type incident, for what purpose is it? Neither President Lee nor President Obama used the Ch’ŏnan as a pretext to go to war (in fact, they were doing quite the opposite), and they didn’t need it as an excuse to expand military ties. So for what purpose was it, if it is in league with the Gulf of Tonkin?

    Also, international laws are violated by holding military exercises?