just gotten ready for it. but the final thing you mentioned about the memorial -- you just gave me another additional homework to do. i will push for that. thank you very much. >> questions from the floor, please. anybody? please, briefly, a question directed to one person. >> my question is for john park. i think china is welcome of kim jong il the last two times based on china's goal. china wants to have the economic development. if north korea disturbed to the peaceful environment in the region and with other countries,

china would have economic development may be disturbed. i think he welcomed kim jong- il's reason to visit. -- recent visit. if north korea provoked another thing like cheonan, what would be -- how would join the treat -- thea treat -- bilateralization between china and north korea, how would that be affected? thank you. >> me? [laughter] >> john park. >> thank you for a question. -- for your question. it would depend on how another provocation occurred. if it were ambiguous, china

would react similarly. if it were clear-cut that it were north korea, that would put china in a difficult position. i would say it really depends on the circumstance. when north korea conducted the first nuclear test, and wrote the un security dons a wreck -- council resolution. >> yes, sir. here on the end of the row. >> thank you. i'm with the executive intelligence review. i wonder if any of you take seriously the objections from some chinese, some russians, and some south korean academics and others to the evidence presented by the international committee. it sounds like you do not. do any of you take that seriously? whether you do or do not, how do you answer those who say the evidence was inadequate to make the conclusion? >> bob, can you make a comment?

>> the first thing i would say is, if not north korea, who? i know there is a lot of conspiracy theory out there, particularly in south korea. they may have the highest percentage of conspiracy theorists' per capita in the world. [laughter] some of these are quite ridiculous. one theory is that the united states and how did this to shape japan's basing policy for the u.s. marines there. there is a lot of circumstantial evidence. if we took this to the courts -- that is the only way we could do it without eyewitnesses. that is the crux of many of

these complaints. if you have no eyewitness, how can you be sure? in this case, we really do not need to have an eyewitness. if we just look at history for 50 years and the number of who else has conducted -- of provocations that have happened, who else has conducted provocation in that area other than north korea. it is certainly hard to imagine another country -- certainly not me and our -- myanmar or malaysia. i would be pretty surprised if it was iran. the idea that the republic of korea did it to themselves -- some of this is preposterous. to take the theory that this was somehow an old mine that had

been laying around for decades and popped up and some, cheonan -- and sunk the cheonan. there are people who might believe that and then they automatically hold suspect that the international inspection team did not do their business very well. do we take it seriously? it is hard when we look at the history of provocation by north korea. it is hard to take serious those theories that are off the shelf and really do not make much sense. what we should take serious is what has been discussed on this panel -- china's reaction to this entire thing. within the alliance, every year that we do our exercises for the defense of korea, china looms ever larger in understanding that issue. we do not always get the support we need from other branches of the government or commands within the military.

the bottom line is that north korea profits from china's position whether they did it or not. north korea has received an extremely great benefit from having beijing give tacit approval to what they did. if it is not north korea, it is hard to imagine that, but they come out smelling like a rose. china and russia -- this is a blueprint for a crisis in the future. we're going to have crisis and war on the peninsula again. we know where china and russia are going and it is not to support the alliance. >> you would certainly shoot a torpedo if you thought you could get away with it.

there are people who shot -- in our country who still question who shot president kennedy and president lincoln. i do not put much stock in a conspiracy. until i see more evidence, the north koreans get the credit for that action. question? on the end, sir. >> i am from nasa. -- national and space intelligence center. i would like to propose -- has south korea considered using the chinese economic investment in north korea as a tool for unification? have they taken that perspective. -- perspective? so far, it seems like the united states involvement has led to

the status quo of a divided peninsula. we have seen moves from south korea like this reunification tax where they're starting to address the issues, trying to help the failed states that -- state that north korea is. >> can you respond to that? >> when it comes to the chinese influence over north korea, the south koreans are afraid that china might take over north korea economically. then when there is a contingency in north korea, china will continue. -- intervene militarily. the role of china in the korean peninsula became greater and greater. your suggestion about -- i understand your question is that chinese economic -- the chinese role in for the development of the north korean

economy is good for -- in the further development of the north korean economy is good. i totally agree with you. i would like to see north korea become like vietnam or china. their living standards have gone up. that will help south koreans reduce the cost of the reunification in the future and will change a north korean people. if the people are hungry and they become rich and well fed, they will change their mind set. there hostile posture toward the -- their hostile posture toward the south could change once the economy goes up and they're living style goes up. this peninsula -- it could help the whole security of the northern and southern peninsula.

i want to wait -- and make one more point -- i want to make one more point. there's discussion about the role of china. it is time to address our problem to the chinese people, especially the young chinese, more so than rely on the information from the internet. -- most of them rely on the information from the internet. through the chinese internet -- i read chinese, russian, all of that information -- what they are talking about with korea is information fed by others -- there is no north korean or south korean opinion known to

the chinese youngsters. if you ask the young kids things, if you are hit by someone else, what would you do? they will fight back. that is what i am talking about. that is that point we're making. we need to have a more active diplomacy to the chinese, especially the people and youngsters who were using the -- who are using the internet the most. that is the point i would make on that. >> thank you. we have reached the indy of our -- of the end of our time for the first panel. i think the people who wrote and discuss the papers have done a very good job of raising the strategic challenges which exists in the korean peninsula. the general has given you an update on u.s.-rok operational control issues, which is very important for the military in

the audience to understand. we have set the stage for the rest of the discussion. i thank all of you for your patience and participation today. >> thank you very much. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> coming up on "the communicators," matthew blank, chairman of showtime, and chris cookson of sony. then, rick santorum. after that, and discussion of what role the u.s. will play in sudan's future. >> he talks about the impact of the gulf of mexico oil spill and the budget challenges of the coast guard at 10:00 a.m. and

6:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> there is nothing about finance that is like rocket science. this is probably the most frustrating thing for me. you think about ponzi schemes. the biggest ponzi scheme for wall street is telling someone who has worked really hard to earn a buck that they are not smart enough to understand how that is going to be invested. >> in 2007, analyst meredith whitney was the first to predict major losses for citigroup. she is our guest sunday night on c-span's "q&a." search the term "mideast peace" online at the c-span video library and you will get more than 1700 programs and more than 8000 transcripts, including an early interview on "oddly even." this is all free and online.

is washington and the world your way. >> on "the communicators," interviews with matthew blank the chairman of showtime and chris cookson president of sony. but interviews were recorded this year. >> matthew blank is the chairman of showtime and the chair person for this convention. what is the big story for the cable business in 2010? >> we have not been in los angeles since 1916 -- 1996. it was a really interesting opportunity to talk about the convergence of really great content -- some of the best content in television today -- with the expanding distribution capability of the cable industry, as well as all the great epic -- great technology coming out of silicon valley and