Driving in the back alleys of a major city in South Korea, one occasionally comes upon a two-car traffic jam. Narrow roads combined with on-street parking often mean only one car can pass at a time.

This combined with the bizarre cultural norms of South Korea sometimes results in two middle-aged men at an impasse. To preserve face neither wants to put their car in reverse to allow the other to proceed. These two-car traffic jams can last as long as an hour while each side puts forth a show of force by entering and exiting their cars, then locking their cars and pretending to walk away and then returning to once again shout at the other driver. 

Often both drivers move their cars as close as possible to the other car in an effort to claim as much territory as possible. Other drivers coming upon the situation merely reverse their cars and go another way. Many times these situations are resolved only when a third party moves a parked car or when there are a sufficient number of cars backed up behind one of the two that the other is forced to give way.

The current North Korean situation is analogous to this type of traffic jam. North Korea has been slowly inching their car down the nuclear road while the United States, South Korea and Japan, through the vehicle of the United Nations, have been trying to block their progress.

As in every territorial conflict, every inch given to the other party only results in a loss. And, as in these two-car traffic jams, North Korea continues to enter and exit their car while making grandiose threats against those in their way.

That this type of traffic jam never occurs in the United States may explain why the actions of North Korea are so puzzling and fascinating to Western eyes. To many in the West, the behavior of North Korea appears bizarre and childish as does the behavior of the two South Korean drivers stuck in an hour-long, two-car traffic jam. However, after centuries of repeated invasions by their neighbors the people of both North and South Korea are highly territorial and extremely sensitive to any real or imagined infringement. This sensitivity combined with a cultural belief that being second is the same as losing manifests itself in such obtuse behavior.

But there are rules to these types of traffic jams and those involved know that no matter how loud they yell physical violence is not allowed. Thus the North Korean leadership postures and poses, they threaten to turn Seoul into a sea of fire and to fire on U.S. bases in Guam and Hawaii while making puerile videos of Washington or New York in ruins, but in the end their behavior is akin to the actions of a mid-50s man standing in a back alley shouting at another driver. No matter how coarse the language or how vile the threats both parties know they should not resort to physical violence.

They both know that the one who loses their cool is the one who will lose when the police complaint is finally filed. Kim Jong-il knew this line and followed it in his own way. While some wonder whether Kim Jong-un knows the line everyone hopes that the generals behind him learned it well under Kim Jong-il’s tutelage.

But as long as the United States and South Korea continue in a tit-for-tat verbal exchange with North Korea there will be no progress. Flying B-52s over South Korea and discussing the latest missile defense systems is unproductive. As with the traffic jam no matter what each driver says or threatens neither will give way and neither will resort to physical violence.

The only solution comes when third parties become involved. While the United States and South Korea have attempted to enlist as many other countries as possible to pressure North Korea to back up their car, this strategy has been unfruitful. North Korea is like those rare unfortunate drivers in South Korea who refuse to back up even when twenty or more cars are facing them.

For those drivers, ruled by a heightened sense of injustice in a society where being second is tantamount to losing, a third way out that allows them to save face is necessary. Such a path usually comes in the form of a nearby resident hearing the commotion and moving their parked car, allowing the stubborn driver to pull into a side spot and allow the others to pass. For North Korea the nearby resident is China and that side spot is North Korea’s economic malaise.

Thus in the end either South Korea has to take the lead and persuade the United States to pursue an alternate diplomatic offensive focused on reviving North Korea’s economy, thus allowing the North Korean leadership to back away from their nuclear ambition while still saving face, or China has to get off of its proverbial couch. Whether either will happen before North Korea miscalculates and strays into physical provocation with the attendant tragic consequences is the real question that obsesses those of us living in South Korea.

By Daniel Fiedler

Daniel Fiedler has been a professor of law in South Korea since 2006 and a licensed attorney in California since 2000 and Arizona since 1998. ― Ed.