When East Meets West: South Korea in a Bind Dealing with North Korea

For weeks, North Korea has been angling for credit for reaching out to the U.S. and South Korea, and has warned that cool response would come at a cost.The destruction that set homes ablaze, sent islanders fleeing for underground shelters and killed two South Korean Marines and two civilians may have been more than Pyongyang bargained for in its game of chicken with the South.

But it gets attention, which is what Pyongyang wants as it seeks to restart negotiations to barter its nuclear program for much-needed aid and they need just about everything.

 

It can be hard to remember in bustling , cosmopolitan Seoul that the Korean Peninsula remains in a state of war. Sixty years after the fighting began, South Korea has risen to become the world\’ s 15th-largest economy, an example of industry and power.