Yunus Nods

See what a little praise around here gets?

SEOUL (Reuters) – This year’s winner of the Nobel Peace Prize said on Friday he would be willing to set up a bank in impoverished North Korea to aid its poor, adding that regional stability is enhanced by eliminating poverty.

Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus, who won the prize for his grassroots work to lift millions out of poverty by lending small amounts to the neediest, said his concept called “microcredit” could work in a communist state such as North Korea.

“If they would like to have a microcredit program, I would like to have a banking program. The leadership is the not the whole story of a nation,” Yunus said during a visit to Seoul to accept a separate peace prize.

No, he didn’t read my blog. Still, there is one problem. It would be a terrible idea to set up microfinancial institutions in North Korea without setting certain condition, namely, a bit of regime change. But if Yunus wants to help North Koreans, there may be a better way, which I am still trying to flesh out (Hint: the North Koreans aren’t neccessarily in North Korea).