It is for the North to reckon its own interest and decide whether to take advantage of the enormous advantages that engagement can offer in finding effective solutions to its pressing economic problems. In other words, engagement presents the North with an opportunity to choose change. The Kumgang Mountain tourism project suggests that the North has perhaps begun to understand this opportunity. It is clear, therefore, that a strategy of engagement is the right choice for South Korea and the United States. As leaders responsible for the well-being of their nations' citizenry, Presidents Kim and Clinton must explore every responsible course that minimizes the chances of armed conflict and increases the likelihood of a beneficial outcome for most of the people concerned, including those in North Korea.
Engagement is the message of hope to the North Korean people.
Moreover, as engagement leads to increased commercial, financial and cultural connections between North and South, North Korea acquires a greater self interest in stability and thus be less likely to engage in behavior that would threaten the those connections. President Kim has conducted a very successful round of summit diplomacy with China and Japan. He has obtained their endorsement for an engagement strategy. Time is still needed, however, for the Kim Jong Il regime to make the fundamental choice that will create a situation in which engagement can become fully effective. In the meantime, the South can pursue an engagement strategy at relatively little cost and with no significant risk, confident that it won the decades-long political and economic competition with the North and that our alliance constitutes a strong, credible military deterrent.