No gadgets for Kim

The U.S. Ministry of Commerce is publishing a list of goods banned from being exported to North Korea. (CNN: U.S. takes gadgets away from Kim; The Washington Post: Hitting Kim Jong Il Right in the Cognac). It is supposed to implement a clause in U.N. Security Council resolution 1718, which calls on member countries to stop the export of luxury goods to North Korea. Included is cognac, iPods, Rolex watches, plasma TVs, Segway scooters, cigarettes, Harley Davidson motorcycles and jetskis, among other goodies.

Japan has its own luxury list including beef and tuna. The United Nations, for its part, has refrained from defining what luxury goods are or to provide a list.

The measure is totally ridiculous. As even CNN observes, the Bush administration is acting like a scolding parent, taking away Kim Jong Il's toys. It is probably another move by the U.S. to torpedo the resumption of the six party talks. When the North Koreans agreed in December 2005 to stop their nuclear weapons program, Washington instigated a blockade of North Korean funds in foreign banks. Result: Pyongyang kept away from the negotiating table for almost a year. Now that they are willing to talk again – having detonated a nuclear bomb in the meantime – Washington is pulling another trick out of its hat which is sure to anger Kim.

CNN calls it “the U.S. government's first-ever effort to use trade sanctions to personally aggravate a foreign president”. It may very well result once more in the North Koreans boycotting the negotiations.

The point is Washington doesn't want to negotiate, but wants to put all the blame on the North Koreans.

Whether it is wise, stupid or criminal for Kim to spend millions on cognac and Mercedes-Benz cars while many North Koreans are starving is irrelevant. You don't treat nations like that, at least if the purpose is to get a desirable outcome. Moreover, the black market will ensure that Kim still gets what he wants.

Inviting Kim Jong Il to the White House would do more to solve the North Korean problem than taking away his toys.

Besides, is eating a tuna sandwich while listening to your iPod a 'luxury'?