Ba-da-ba-ba-ba.

and its foreign policy, not a complete identity, which is another issue which can complicate things and cause confusion because there's not a complete identity.

One, because contradictions arise that reality is often more complex than theory and people make mistakes and realpolitik and national interest will surface in the policy of any state no matter how altruistic it might see itself as being or even attempt to be.

So there are contradictions there, but mostly there is a state's foreign policy is determined by its social system, and its social system in turn is rooted in its own history and situation.

This is a process that you see in China.

So I would say that China's foreign policy is obviously dictated by the state of the world and how it analyzes the world.

But it's dictated by the fact that, in my view at least, it's a socialist country.

Okay, then how do you

How do you see that fitting into the larger scheme of things as you see it?

Before we come on to the question of unification, I think one of the things he said was very correct in that actually the DPRK you know, contrary to the idea that it's extremely belligerent or wishes to be hostile or wishes to be isolated, the DPRK actually spent several decades trying hard to get some kind of deal, agreement, modus vivendi, whatever you want to call it, with the United States.

And Kim Il-sung met shortly before he died, met with Jimmy Carter, who came to Pyongyang, the DPRK entered into the six-party talks which involved the DPRK, South Korea, Japan, China and the United States and really they wanted to come to some kind of agreement, have a peace treaty with the United States to normalize relations, develop economic ties and so on.

Not not on the condition of abandoning their own socialist system or giving up their anti-imperialist standpoint, but nevertheless, it was actually quite an important goal for them.

And I think now, what's fundamentally changed is that it's actually now it's Donald Trump who... is very keen, sometimes sounds almost desperate to have some kind of engagement, some kind of dialogue with the DPRK.

And it's the DPRK that's Basically saying, well, we don't rule it out, but it's not essentially what they're saying is it's not really a priority for us because they say, you know, we will talk if you formally respect our status as a nuclear power, as the United States still actually wants to discuss with them about them ceasing to be nuclear.

a nuclear power, there's at present no dialogue, but the DPRK is very clear now that it's in no hurry for that.

So how did that contribute to Korea's economic development? And what do you think are some of the things that the West gets completely wrong about North Korea's economic development? Yeah, good question.

Yeah.

And then he transitioned to golf.

Um, and just a very natural athlete.

Um, picked it up really quickly.

Played the University of North Florida, um, in Jacksonville there, and then, uh, tried to play professionally.

I think he just didn't enjoy that whole process of being away and on the road.

He was a very good player.

[laughs]