Did Kim Jong Un learn from Peter Sellers?

In 1959, Peter Sellers made a movie called The Mouse That Roared. If you liked his brand of humor, it was a funny movie. The movie was about a tiny, mousy European country that was having serious financial and other difficulties. The monarchy had exhausted its limited resources and because of its size, economy and location, the country was of no interest to the rest of the world. The political leadership of the monarchy needed to do something to get the attention of the superpowers to, hopefully, get some foreign aid from them. Recalling a Marshall Plan scenario, the political leaders planned to declare war on the United States, lose the war and bask in the benefits of a post-war appeasement. Accordingly, Sellers leads a handful of palace guards, armed with bows and arrows, to New York City. Clumsily, they can’t find anyone to fight. Upon arrival, the city is in the middle of a nuclear attack exercise, and the streets are empty. The meager band of warriors wanders about looking for someone to surrender to. Quite by accident, they cross paths with a scientist who has a special ultimate weapon that can destroy the Earth. Sellers and company take the scientist hostage, so to speak, and tell the U.S. government that they have a weapon of mass destruction. When U.S. government leaders learn that their fate lies in the hands of the rebellious, tiny dictatorship, they are forced to make all sorts of concessions to this little mouse that roared.

Under the inept leadership of its dictator, Kim Jong Un, North Korea wants for just about everything: food, trade, medicine, energy, you name it. Unlike Peter Sellers’ mousy monarchy, North Korea has already gotten the attention of the world powers and their neighbors. World powers have promised great bounty if only Kim Jong Un would cease and desist with his missile threats. So what’s up? Surely he realizes that he could not prevail in any kind of a military encounter. China came to North Korea’s rescue during the Korean conflict, but probably not this time. China appears just as opposed to Kim Jong’s gestures of military threat as are Russia, Japan and America.

Presumably, Kim Jong Un realizes that he can probably only play the “roar” card once, so he had better play it well. What better time than when the world fight against terrorism is challenging the resources of it’s major actors? Kim Jong Un may be short, fat and eccentric, but he’s not dumb. He does like movies, though. Perhaps he likes Peter Sellers flicks. Perhaps he saw The Mouse That Roared. JACK FULLER Rogers