This is CBS I on the World with John Bachelor.

Here's John Bachelor.

Gordon Chang, that Gordon G Chang, my colleague and co-host and friend,

North Korea, David Maxwell, Vice President for Center for Asia Pacific Strategy.

David, there is a story in VOA news that strikes me as unexpected.

It has to do with two disparate hemispheres. One is North Korea, the Korean Peninsula, the darkness visible at night from satellites all is dark.

And the other is Cuba in the Caribbean, long and adversary of the United States.

What this does, however, is it introduces another factor.

The headline,

Sol's, Sol's ties, the capital of South Korea.

Sol's ties with Havana seen as setback for Pyongyang.

That sentence didn't end where I thought it was going to

David. What's happened? Well I think I think that North Korea and South Korea may be

playing Go, you know, the strategic territorial influence game and the Korean name of Paduc, but you know we saw North Korea reach out or connect with Japan about possible high-level talks

and I think that both countries are in a way competing for influence and we've seen of course

since this connection between Seoul and Havana that North Korea has started removing all references to Cuba from its propaganda.

So I think there is this slight competition for influence and you know and I think

obviously in the long run South Korea wins that by a landslide.

Gordon, a very good day to you.

Have a question for David.

David, when South Korea established relations with North Korea's friends, then I guess North Korea

has to search elsewhere for support and that would be probably Russia, maybe even China.

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