[Newspoetry] North Korea Attempts to Join In the Trend Towards Globalization

[Mike Lehman]

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-Associated Poets

	Even a hard-line Communist state like North Korea has finally attempted
to bow to the demands for globalization, where everything is considered
to be for sale. The North Koreans, in talks this week in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia, offered to quit exporting ballistic missle technology in
return for a payment of $1 billion.
	They noted that even the most basic National Missile Defense system,
proposed by the Clinton Adminstration, and the subject of another
much-publicized test failure this week, would cost at least $60 billion.
The North Korean delegation thought that this offer to save the American
people would be eagerly accepted, but it was summarily rejected by the
US team.
	An anonymous US team member noted that they receive more than that in
bribes, campaign contributions and no-show jobs yearly from the big
defense contractors standing to profit from building the NMD system.
	A North Korean delegate noted that they thought that saving the
American people at least $59 billion would be regarded with favor. She
noted that even if they opened a huge archipelago of sweatshops, they
couldn't save US consumers that much money and noted that "the
capitalists are unpredictable and dangerous negotiating partners. They
give a whole new meaning the the term 'rogue state'."