So I was just on the BBC, a radio show called “World Have Your Say“ that invites listeners from around the world to debate issues with an “expert” panel. In this case the issue was North Korea and the panel was me, a Korean-American professor from Harvard and a reporter for the Guardian.

I was surprised by how many of the callers – from all over — said it was absolutely unacceptable for North Korea to have nuclear weapons and that strong steps need to be taken to stop Kim Jong Il from going further. Among the callers making this argument was “Muhammad” from Iran which – as Ledeen and Rubin would tell you – is not surprising.

Also not surprising: The most anti-American comments were from callers in America, including a guy with a heavy Middle Eastern accent who defended Kim Jong Il and railed incoherently about the U.S., the U.K. and Israel. There was a native-born American from California who said that America’s failure to sign the Kyoto Treaty is worse than anything Kim Jong Il has done.

The reporter from the Guardian was sympathetic to that view. He also alleged that John Bolton had advocated Taiwan’s takeover of mainland China. I asked him to substantiate that and he could not—he said he had heard Bolton say it. I told him he had obviously misunderstood whatever it was he heard.