positive vs. negative links
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/13/world/asia/north-korea-rejects-offer-of-aid-from-south-korea.html?_r=1
This news article is very recent and notifies the readers that South Korea offered humanitarian aid on September 3rd, but North Korea rejected it. North Korea asked what and how much the South planned to offer. If there is an agreement, the two countries will be able to communicate after years refusing to communicate with president Lee Myung-bak. South Korea planned to provide 10,000 tons of flour, 3 million packs of instant noodles, medicine, and more when by discussing. However, North still rejected this offer claiming they did not need such aid, just like last year. Last year, they claimed the offer too small. Before Lee Myung-bak became president, South had sent 500,000 tons of rice and 300,000 tons of fertilizer annually. Lee Myung-bak stopped this aid program since the North continued on with their nuclear weapons program. This made the tension between them more intense. In 2010, North shelled a South Korean island, which made their relationship worsen. Despite the fact that North claimed “We do not need such aid,” it asked the United Nations for help due to the flooding and typhoons.
By this article, it is shown that South Korea, North Korea, and the United Nations all have edges, making it a complete graph. South and North Korea are both members of the United Nations since 1991. By being a member, the links between them can be considered positive edges since when the two nations ask UN for help, it is willing to provide aid. However, this article indicates that North and South have negative relations, giving them a negative bridge. Therefore, the graph makes a triangle, with two positive edges (nodes: South & UN, North & UN) and one negative edge (nodes: North and South). When the graph is balanced, all the edges should be all positive, or one positive and two negatives (common enemy). When unbalanced, all edges should be negative, or two positive and one negative. By having two negative and one positive edges, the South-North-UN graph is considered a complete unbalanced graph since the UN (having a positive relationship with other two nodes) will try to resolve the conflict between the other two nodes (North and South), or either one node can build a hostile relationship with the other.
Thus, the three nodes can be seen as an unstable graph and if North Korea accepted the offering from the South, the graph will become a stabilized, balanced graph and the United Nations will not have to deal with friends who are enemies with each other. All edges would be positive then, and the readers can only hope that this will happen sometime later in the future.
The graph is shown in the file attached.