North Korea has always puzzled, partly because its extreme isolation means we know so little about it. Former US vice-president Walter Mondale once said that anyone claiming to be an expert on the country was either a liar or a fool. Many times, Pyongyang appears to have craved dialogue with the west, particularly Washington. Yet at the same time it has pursued policies of extreme rhetorical and even physical antagonism, such as when it tried to blow up the South Korean cabinet in Rangoon in 1983 as it was seeking talks. Its twin desires to be isolated and to be engaged has left the west baffled about how to deal with it.
北韓一貫令人費解，部分原因是它極度與世隔絕，我們對它知之甚少。美國前副總統華特•孟岱爾(Walter Mondale)曾說，但凡有人自稱爲北韓問題專家，不是騙子就是傻瓜。平壤方面多次似乎渴望與西方對話，尤其是美國，但與此同時，它卻在腔調上乃至行爲上追求極端對立，例如它1983年一邊尋求談判，一邊卻企圖在仰光炸死南韓內閣成員。它既想孤立，又想接觸，令西方不知如何應對。