While the South's 47 million people have gone from abject poverty to relative prosperity, North Korea's 21.5 million citizens remain in a grim Orwellian-Stalinist police state whose moribund economy is heading towards eventual collapse. Japan is expected to sweeten the pot. So, too, the North's continued development of missiles capable of hitting Japan, Okinawa, and North America - and its nuclear capability, including several nuclear warheads. Japanese press reports this week claimed North Korea was still actively producing enriched uranium in spite of having pledged to halt production. Moscow strongly opposes the US anti-missile system, fearing it will serve as the foundation for a far larger, more capable ABM defense.
China expresses similar concerns.
Meanwhile, South Koreans are reveling in the thought of eventual reunification - but not too soon. The South is struggling to climb out of recession. Supporting the bankrupt North would shatter South Korea's economy. Off in Tokyo, the Pyongyang summit was greeted with polite smiles. But a far more telling sign occurred in South Korea, where a hit film depicts a reunified Korea blasting Japan with nuclear-armed missiles.