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ab initio

Welcome, one and all. There is an exciting lot to learn about Kaesong, a town in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). Long ago, Kaesong was the capital city of the Koryo Empire, from which modern Korea gets its name. The capital was moved to Seoul (and Pyongyang after the dividing of the peninsula in 1948), but Kaesong remains. A little history first.

The two Koreas, North and South, have not gotten along since the invasion launched in 1950 by the DPRK. With some help, South Korea was able to escape Stalinist rule and has since thrived wondrously. The Soviet-backed aggressors in the North, however, have not realized as great economic success, and as a result have fallen behind in important ways, including militarily. Around 1990 the Soviet Union had enough problems apart from aiding its ally, North Korea, and ultimately was unable to continue providing badly needed support. The threat of regime instability because of internal economic failures and consistent pressure from the South and its ally, the United States, led the leadership of the DPRK to pursue nuclear weapons as an alternative to the deterrent of conventional arms. The first nuclear explosion on the Korean peninsula was a test detonation in the North on October 9, 2006. Let us pray it was the last.

Other things were happening in the years between that I believe will prove to be much more productive. I give two examples.

A multi-nation negotiating effort was devised to talk the DPRK back from the atomic edge. This process has taken on the name Six-Party Talks (6PT) after the number of its participants: Russia, China, North Korea, South Korea, the United States, and Japan. Face obstacles is has, and face obstacles it will, but the 6PT offers good hope for a peaceful resolution of nukes on the Korean peninsula. Its success, if forthcoming, could turn the talks into a permanent and ongoing forum for peace and security issues in Northeast Asia.

The prosperity gap between North and South has continued to widen, and South Koreans, grown increasingly tolerant of the antics of their Communist brothers, have for 10 years been quite accommodating and ready to work with North Korea. A major driving force behind this policy of engagement is an exceptional fear that collapse of, or reunification with, a poverty-stricken DPRK would mean big trouble for the South Korean economy. Although a more conservative South Korean administration will soon take over the government, the progressive bent of inter-Korean relations is unlikely to see dramatic alteration.

All of this leads us to, yes that's right, Kaesong! The first heads-of-states summit ever between North and South was held in 2000. One of the projects proposed at the meeting was a joint industrial complex at the ancient city of Kaesong. South Korean firms, looking around Asia to colocate with a population of inexpensive labor, began with government encouragement to build factories at Kaesong, which lies only an hour's drive from Seoul. By 2007, goods produced at the Inter-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex were a bone of contention in the negotiations on a U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement.

The second summit, whereat was discussed significant cultural and economic exchanges and the permanentization and expansion of projects like Kaesong, was held in October 2007, not three months ago. Discussions in those three months have prompted the joint development of other areas, such as the rich fishing waters of the West Sea and the North's port city of Haeju.

I don't know a lot of things, but I know enough to tell it's an exciting time in Korea. I hope you enjoy following the most recent developments at Kaesong as I post them and my thoughts to this blog. I like crowd participation, so post a comment. Let's get to know one another and the place called Kaesong.