Stop North Korea! A Radical New Approach to the North Korean Standoff by Shepherd Iverson
Korean studies professor Shepherd Iverson, who describes his eight-year residency in South Korea as having “gone native,” promises a “monograph … written for … the nimble, not the feebleminded,” claiming he “will not present another bland description of events or another ordinary history-laden political science perspective on the Korea problem.”
At the core of Iverson’s proposal to “Stop North Korea” is an “unorthodox,” albeit highly intriguing, $175 billion Reunification Investment Fund, designed to pay-for-peace by disbursing financial incentives to every North Korean: the complex payout system ranges from $3,000 to $30 million depending on a citizen’s status.
Potentially funded by South Korea, the U.S., and China, this “safe, honorable, and profitable way out of a deteriorating system” ensures denuclearization while encouraging astronomical return for investors. More outlandishly daring than realistically feasible, Iverson admits “the probability this fund will be implemented is small.” A more daunting wild-card, however, is newly inaugurated President Trump: with his as-yet unknown policies toward North Korea beyond threatening tweets, Iverson’s “sincere attempt to find a way to unify Korea before it is too late” may be, for now, too late.
Review: modified from “Nonfiction – Social Sciences – Politics & Government,” Booklist Online, February 17, 2017
Readers: Adult
Published: 2017
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