Is a Unified Korea Really in Our Best Interest?

This morning while in South Korea, President Bush supported the idea of a unified Korea but is that really a good idea for the national security of the United States? Do we need another China? A unified Korea would give both countries the missing parts they need to become a world superpower. North Korea currently has the fourth largest military force in the world and the nuclear weapons to go with it. South Korea has the 12th largest economy in the world as well as the 6th largest military force.

Combining these two countries would be a great merger and give both what they need, North Korea a real industry and South Korea, nuclear weapons. If people are wondering why South Korea really hasn’t been as dedicated to ridding the north of its WMD it’s because they don’t want them too.

In Samuel Huntington’s (editor of the Foreign Affairs, the publication of the Council on Foreign Relations) bestseller “The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of the World Order” a book I highly recommended and one you will not believe was written in 1995 after reading how relevant it is all today. In his book while discussing Clintons 1994 North Korea confrontation comments how:

“South Korea… viewed the bomb in relation to its regional interest. Many South Koreans saw a North Korean bomb as a Korean bomb, one which would never be used against other Koreans but could be used to defend Korean independence and interest against Japan and other potential threats.”

He goes on to point out:

“South Korean civilian officials and military officers explicitly looked forward to a united Korea having that capability. North Korea would suffer the expense and international obloquy of developing the bomb; South Korea would eventually inherit it; the combination of northern nuclear weapons and southern industrial prowess would enable a unified Korea to assume its appropriate role as a major actor on the East Asian scene.”

Thoughts?