海角大神

The release聽on Monday聽of Australian missionary John Short from detention in聽North Korea聽suggests the North may be serious about what鈥檚 often described as a 鈥渃harm offensive鈥� to show the regime鈥檚 desire for reconciliation with the rest of the world, notably聽South Korea聽and the聽United States.

After Mr. Short confessed to "a criminal act by secretly spreading his Bible tracts," according to the official Korean Central News Agency, he was put on a plane to Beijing, where he said he was "very very tired" from the two-week ordeal, but unharmed.

The reality, however, is that聽North Korea聽is showing no such humanitarian instincts toward its own people. The harsh facts are recounted in a lengthy report compiled by a commission appointed by the UN Council for Human Rights and released last month. The report, likening conditions in聽North Korea鈥檚 prison camps to those in Nazi Germany, accuses the North of such severe 鈥渧iolations of human rights鈥� as to 鈥渃onstitute crimes against humanity.鈥澛�

The report鈥檚 findings provide fodder for global condemnation of聽North Korea. Secretary of State John Kerry described the North as an 鈥渆vil, evil place.鈥�

Another reality, however, intrudes.

The rest of the world, including the countries with most at stake in the region, can do little if anything to act on the report鈥檚 findings. For starters, the report will probably never result in hearings by the International Criminal Court in聽The Hague聽because聽China, the North鈥檚 sole ally and the source of 80 percent of its fuel and half of its food, can use its veto power in the UN Security Council.

What about the inference of Commission Chairman Michael Kirby鈥檚 remark, after releasing the report, that 鈥渙ther nations聽could not say of聽North Korea, as happened with the Nazis, that they did not know the extent of the crimes.鈥� 聽There would 鈥渂e no excusing a failure of action because we didn't know,鈥� he added, not specifying what action, leaving open the option of force if all else failed.聽

Following that logic, what if聽other countries, led by the聽US, were so exercised as to consider military action to open up the camps, in desolate regions far from聽Pyongyang, and free and then care properly for the prisoners? Why not relieve them of their suffering just as critics have contended the allied powers of World War II should have done after hearing of the slaughter in Nazi camps long before聽Germany鈥檚 defeat? 聽

In reality, however, the nations with the most at stake on the Korean peninsula are not going to consider a rescue mission that could precipitate the Korean War II.

The inevitable result would be聽catastrophe, warns聽Kun A. 鈥淭ony鈥� Namkung, who has traveled to聽North Korea聽many times as an adviser to Bill Richardson, the former聽New Mexico聽governor, and to American companies.聽North Korea, he notes, has nuclear weapons as well as more than a million troops and hundreds of artillery weapons that could rain death and destruction on聽Seoul, among other targets.聽

That鈥檚 a much more daunting reality than a Chinese veto, but it doesn鈥檛 mean the聽US聽is powerless.

鈥淭he聽US聽role should be to facilitate inter-Korean dialogue,鈥� says Mr. Namkung, preparing to return to聽Pyongyang聽next week. He believes聽North Korea聽is ready to accept a 鈥渢wo-state formula,鈥� acknowledging the South as a separate independent country.聽No longer would聽North Korea聽view the South as a subordinate of the聽US, and it would聽open its borders to commerce while agreeing to normal mail, Internet, and telephone service.

鈥淔reeing this pastor is the latest sign,鈥� he says. While in Pyongyang, Namkung will ask about freeing Kenneth Bae, the Korean-American travel agent who was arrested in November 2012 and sentenced to 15 years for distributing religious material.聽He remains hopeful, noting that Bae has received visits from Swedish diplomats representing the US in North Korea and that his mother has visited as well.聽

That still leaves the final terrible reality 鈥� no end in sight to the suffering of thousands of North Koreans while the North calls the UN report聽鈥渁 political plot aimed at sabotaging the socialist system.鈥� 聽