North Korea is scary, even for the Chinese. Or, I should say, particularly for the Chinese.

For one thing, we are closer. We know a nuclear weapon can travel far, but being close is always more scary. What happens if a test goes wrong? Are we going to lose a province in the Northeast? What about nuclear fallout? We really don't need help from neighbors in polluting the environment. We do a fine job on our own, thank you.

But the deeper fear is psychological. Pictures of Pyongyang today are a mirror image of what Beijing looked like in the 60s, during the height of the Cultural Revolution under Mao. At least two generations of Chinese, which is about 65% of the population, still get the creepy crawlers when they remember what it was like then. It was bleak, poverty-stricken and stressful. I mean the political stress in those days makes present day office stress seem like a beach holiday. So, we really don't like being reminded of our own scary past.

I am not a real-politique kind of gal, but who says this fear on the part of the Chinese should not be used to advance world peace? And why not, for that matter?

As for why the North Koreans are at the negotiation table, again, I can safely bet it is because they took a very hard look at the Before/After pictures of Beijing. Guess what, they are probably more scared than the rest of the world. Trust me, we've been there.