UnNews:Obama: Ignore North Korea, and it will go away
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| Obama: Ignore North Korea, and it will go away | 
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17 June 2009
WASHINGTON D.C. (EP) - "Everyone should just ignore North Korea, and it will go away", President Barak Obama said on Wednesday.
Speaking at a news conference with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, Obama said North Korea was a bully, and the best way to deal with bullies is to just ignore them.
He pledged to end a cycle of letting North Korea create a crisis in order to be rewarded with concessions from the international community.
"This is a pattern they've come to expect", Obama said, "Now we are going to break that pattern."
He also said he would assemble a crack team of child pyschologists to study North Korean foreign policy.
"And we've got to tell the North Koreans clearly and emphatically: We're not your friends, and we're not going to play with you," Obama said.
He said a message to that effect would be relayed to North Korea via the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang, which oversees U.S. interests in North Korea.
The United States is not talking to North Korea just now, and hasn't been for some time. Exchanges between the two have in recent years largely been confined to sulky glances from the U.S. side, and childish taunts from North Korean officials.
North Korea expert Wolfe Yerburgher agreed with President Obama's new strategy for dealling with Pyongyang.
"If someone throws something at you, the best thing is not to throw it back or hit them, but to just ignore them," Yerburgher said, "They'll get tired of bugging you and just go away. But if they keep bugging you, tell your dad - he'll come down and sort them out."
Asked to explain just who "dad" would be in this situation, and how the entire northern section of the Korean peninsula could just "go away," Yerburgher looked confused, and then he turned his back to us and ignored us until we went away.
Sources[edit]
- Staff "North Korea". New York Times, June 16, 2009