There have been earthshaking developments on the Korean Peninsula in the past six months. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il began to play a central role in Pyongyang's international relations, a year after the country started making diplomatic overtures worldwide. North Korea relaxed tense relations with China and Russia and adopted a non-hostile, non-provocative stance toward South Korea and Western countries.

In June 2000, Kim Jong Il met and talked with South Korean President Kim Dae Jung for the first time. His greatest motivation for this venture was, in my opinion, the potential for gaining support from Seoul to improve the North's infrastructure.

North Korea's shift implies that it is beginning to take measures that ordinary countries should take. A small country like North Korea would be unable to survive international isolation while suffering from a serious food shortage and severe economic difficulties. It is only natural that North Korea should ask its southern neighbor for help as the first step in obtaining international aid.