Dealing with Dictators: North Korea

Aug 14, 2009

Should you ever deal with dictators? Two American journalists held hostage in North Korea were released as a result of Bill Clinton's recent meeting with Kim Jong-il. Did the positive outcome justify lending credibility to one of the world's worst regimes?

Bill Clinton went to North Korea and met Kim Jong-il, the leader of one of the world's worst regimes.

The visit by a former U.S. president and international celebrity gave global visibility and an aura of equal status to an isolated regime. The greeting and the photo-op, one of history's most affectless pictures, may be all the North wanted.

As a result, two American journalists were released. They were arrested along the China-North Korea border while researching a story and sentenced to 12 years of hard labor.

But should you ever deal with dictators? In this case, did positive outcomes justify lending credibility to bad guys?

Does defining the parameters of negotiations impact the decision?

The mission was labeled and treated as unofficial, however, the trip was probably coordinated with the administration, and Clinton must have had some assurance of success in advance. Furthermore, the private/public line is fine since his spouse is the Secretary of State.

What do you think? Did the U.S. give up too much for the sake of two citizens? Were ethical standards compromised or upheld?

By William Vocke.

To post a comment, go to the Global Ethics Corner slideshow.

You may also like

MAY 13, 2022 Article

Ethics As We Know it is Gone. It's Time for Ethics Re-envisioned.

Given the troubling state of international affairs there is reason to be greatly concerned about how ethics is framed or co-opted. To meet this moment, ...

A United States Marine escorts a Department of State employee to evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan, August 15, 2021. CREDIT: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Afghanistan_withdrawal_Image_3_of_7.jpg">Sgt. Isaiah Campbell/Public Domain</a>

AUG 23, 2021 Article

The Ethics of Exit from Afghanistan

Carnegie Council President Joel H. Rosenthal discusses the post-9/11 evolution from counterterrorism to counterinsurgency and analyzes the ethics surrounding the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. ...

President Biden observes vaccine dosage preparations at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland, January 29, 2021. CREDIT: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/51145157658/">Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz</a> (<a href="https://www.usa.gov/government-works">U.S. Government Works</a>)

MAY 19, 2021 Article

Vaccine Nationalism versus Vaccine Diplomacy

Health security is a fundamental "doorstep" issue in terms of the intersection of domestic and foreign policy. In this blog post, U.S. Global Engagement ...

Not translated

This content has not yet been translated into your language. You can request a translation by clicking the button below.

Request Translation