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If the United States went to war with North Korea, this nation would not win, according to Dr. Hans S. Park, who lectured Tuesday at NT. "We'd go there and lose a lot of American lives," Park said.

Park, director of the Center for the Study of Global Affairs at the University of Georgia, lectured on North Korea and the United States. He said the Bush administration has formulated no policy toward North Korea, and that Secretary of State Colin Powell, in a failed attempt, had first suggested to continue President Clinton's policy to engage the country. Clinton had hoped to ease tense relations with North Korea and be civil to one another. Park suggested that North Korea should not be labeled an axis of evil, as the Bush administration has done.

"There are no documents to support North Korea as a terrorist state," he said. "It is not a terrorist state. It is a failed state, an unsophisticated state." About 150 people attended Park's lecture, which was interrupted when a fire alarm went off in the General Academic Building. Afterward, a slightly smaller crowd gathered to listen to the man. Born in China, Park has served as a diplomat in the Korean peninsula and has traveled to North Korea more than 40 times over the last 23 years. He is also an author and has appeared as a commentator on such news networks as CNN and "Nightline" on ABC. He is currently working with ABC News to schedule an interview with Korean leader Kim Jong Il for Diane Sawyer. Park said Bush has refused to deal with North Korea.

"The Bush administration does not have any interest in alleviating missiles anytime soon," he said. But he added that going to war with North Korea is more likely than forcing the nation to give up its weapons.

Invading North Korea would not bring the results the Bush administration is hoping for, he said. For starters, Park doesn't think South Korea would join the fight on the United States' side. He also said China would not approve of an invasion of North Korea.

Over the last 50 years, Park said, North Korea has been building a subway system in the capital of Pyongyang, 100 meters below the surface, to protect its citizens in the event of an attack. Missiles can only penetrate as much as 50 meters of the ground, leaving the North Koreans another 50 meters of protection, Park said.

Still, he said, North Korea might be willing to give up its weapons "if the price is right. They're a weird country, but they'd like to survive."

Park said North Korea is not a terrorist country, but is seen as one by the American government and its public. He said he has told North Korean leaders to use the American media to give the public a new view of the country with journalists from around the world, such as the possible ABC News interview.

On many of his trips to North Korea, Park has met with military leaders and visited orphanages. He said North Korean soldiers have been brainwashed to think the most honorable way to leave the armed services is in a body bag and that children in the country are dying of starvation.

"To watch a child die of lack of food changes anyone's perspective," he said. Park has met with and advised the Bush administration that if it attacks North Korea, they should do it without prior notice, unlike the timeline given to Saddam Hussein before the attack on Iraq. Giving the North Koreans a timeline would be dangerous because it gives them time to strike first, he said.

"They're not going to watch their weapons be destroyed without having used them first," he said.

He suggested the best way for the United States to deal with North Korea is to put an end to the Korean War. What is considered to be the end of the Korean War in 1953 was only a cease-fire, he said, and both sides are still fighting. The United States should also engage North Korea and continue with Clinton's policy to normalize relations. Park also said North Korea should be removed from the lists of terrorists because no terrorist connections have been found there.

Park added, "for the sake of peace, we should never invade North Korea."

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