Taking North Korea at Its Word

So long as the West remains unaware of just how different divided Korea is from divided Germany, it will continue misjudging and mispredicting the North’s behavior. Unification is the only plausible goal big enough to make sense of the enormous sums of money the country continues investing in its nuclear and ballistic program — and losing through sanctions as a result. After years of appearing more displeased with Tokyo than with Pyongyang, the Park administration finally appears to have grasped the gravity of the situation. Whether the electorate will show its support in the upcoming regional elections remains to be seen.