>>2081616 (lb) Sorry BO, this posted as a new thread. Pls Delete.
>Kim has inflicted murder, torture, rape and forced labor on his own people, often in the country’s notorious concentration camps.
As did his Father, his Grandfather, and their spiritual forefather, Mao.
For the people decrying the lack of mention of this in negotiations with NK, you're not thinking it all the way through.
If we insisted on a guilt fest public mea culpa from Kim, we're not going to get it and mere mention of it would sour the milk of the complex deals that need to be consummated before peace is attained on the Korean Peninsula, NK abandons it's nukes, and it fore swears military development of ballistic missiles.
Would you rather live in a world constantly threatened by this kind of menace just to hear him admit it?
Even if this tightrope is walked successfully and the north is slowly opened up, what options does Kim have to deal with his forced labor camps?
If he disbands them and releases all of the inmates Scott free, they will be a thorn in his side forever as the western media exploits their tales of horror to eternally threaten Kim's freedom (that we're going to have to guarantee). You can bet they would/will do exactly that.
He can kill them all. Dead men tell no tales. Problem solved. Blame it on a plague or riots or angry mobs. If he chooses to do this, we will have to turn a blind eye for the greater good.
Or, he can leave them incarcerated. Improve their living conditions, remove the slave labor component, but leave them jailed indefinitely.
He gets a two-fer. Feels for improving their conditions, silence, as they will never be free to tell their tales. He gets security and a PR bump, the prisoners live out their days in improved conditions, the world is a safer place.
I believe this is the best option. Kim could even trickle out some of the prisoners who are "re-rehabilitated" at some indefinite future time.