Allow me to begin with an image that we all can understand. Imagine sticking one’s head in the sand in order to avoid confronting a reality that challenges one’s beliefs or makes one uncomfortable. Then extend this visual analogy to its logical conclusion: Having one’s head in the sand exposes one’s backside to a swift kick in the pants. Head-in-the-sand as a course of action makes for very poor foreign policy – but that is precisely what has been happening on the Korean Peninsula for decades now.

The current uptick in relations between the North and the South notwithstanding, the