ID :
123315
Fri, 05/21/2010 - 06:00
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/123315
The shortlink copeid
(Cheonan attack) (News Focus) S. Korea condemns N. Korea for torpedoing chances of reconciliation
(ATTN: ADDS N. Korean denial; UPDATES with S. Korean refusal to allow cross-border
visits, reluctance of China to support S. Korea; TRIMS; RECASTS headline; ADDS S.
Korean president's comments)
By Sam Kim
SEOUL, May 20 (Yonhap) -- In a bleak contrast with the heart-warming rendezvous
between the leaders of the Koreas in Pyongyang a decade ago, South Korea
announced Thursday that a North Korean submarine had sneaked into its waters and
torpedoed its warship -- awakening the nation to the bitter reality of the
world's sole remaining Cold War frontier.
The attack was carried out, investigators say, on the night of March 26 near a
western border island that had already born witness to a brief but fierce naval
gunfight between the Koreas last year.
A 1,200-ton corvette named after the central city of Cheonan tore in half while
its 104 crew members went about their business, taking 46 of them down with the
ship into the murky sea.
On Thursday, ending a weeks-long investigation that drew experts from around the
world, the government said it had nailed the culprit by analyzing a collection of
parts and shards from a North Korean-made torpedo.
"The evidence points overwhelmingly to the conclusion that the torpedo was fired
by a North Korean submarine. There is no other plausible explanation," it said in
a report, citing a multinational team of investigators.
North Korea immediately denied its role, warning of "tough measures including an
all-out war" for any retaliation. It also said it would dispatch an "inspection
group" to verify the South Korean conclusion, an offer Seoul appeared undecided
on.
The South Korean announcement on Thursday marks "a moment that inter-Korean
relations have essentially ended," Paik Hak-soon, a North Korea expert at the
Sejong Institute, said. "They will remain that way unless a fundamental political
change takes place in either Seoul or Pyongyang."
Paik forecast Pyongyang will move to unite its people, exploiting heightened
tensions to consolidate its grip on power and empowering military hard-liners to
deal with eroded relations.
The Cheonan sinking has already vindicated South Korea's reluctance to allow
exchanges with the communist neighbor. Since last week, South Korea has stopped
funding any government-level projects with North Korea and urged hundreds of
companies doing business with the communist neighbor not to pursue new ventures.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said Thursday he is considering "tough
measures needed to hold (North Korea) to account," renewing his resolve as
"commander-in-chief and top state official."
Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean studies, said it is
likely that South Korea will move to restrict North Korean ships from entering
its waters.
"That will prompt the North to refuse to guarantee the safety of South Korean
airplanes flying over its eastern waters" as it did last year amid fraying
inter-Korean ties, Yang said.
The analysts said the greatest victim in the saga following the Cheonan sinking
will be the more than 110 South Korean manufacturing firms in the North Korean
border town of Kaesong.
The complex, which hires 42,000 North Korean workers, is the last remaining
reconciliation symbol after Pyongyang ditched Seoul as its partner last month for
cross-border tours to Mount Kumgang.
Casting a cloud over the fate of the complex, North Korea expelled a South Korean
worker last week over a training booklet that had apparently slipped into his
possession by accident.
"When things go wrong, everything that would have passed as fine goes wrong,"
Yang said. "It's unlikely the Kaesong industrial complex will survive the
crumbling political ties in the long run."
Yang predicted South Korea will toughen its restrictions on the transportation of
resources into the North. On Thursday, the Seoul Unification Ministry said it
decided not to approve the visits of more than 30 South Koreans to North Korea.
The ministry, which had led exchanges with North Korea after South Korean
President Kim Dae-jung met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang for
the first-ever inter-Korean summit, has issued a safety warning for its citizens
in the North.
This prompted South Korean shipping companies to suspend their sand imports from
North Korea, a six-year-old project that was seen as mitigating tension in the
western waters.
Economic cooperation boomed following the meeting between the two Kims in 2000.
It appeared to get a boost when Kim Dae-jung's liberal successor, Roh Moo-hyun,
met with Kim Jong-il for another summit in October 2007.
Less than half a year later, the ties turned sour when conservative President Lee
took power in Seoul and urged North Korea to show progress in denuclearization
before it receives large-scale aid and cooperation from south of its border.
North Korea called him a "traitor." Last November, a North Korean patrol boat
crossed the Yellow Sea border and opened fire on a South Korean one, only to
retreat in flames.
The clearest act of defiance came in May last year when North Korea conducted its
second nuclear test, raising tension both on the peninsula and in the
international arena.
"In the worst scenario possible, we can expect North Korea to conduct a third
nuclear test if South Korea and the United States continue to pressure it over
the Cheonan sinking," Yang said.
South Korea and the U.S. have said that the tragedy will affect the six-nation
talks, which are aimed at denuclearizing North Korea through incentives. South
Korea says punishment for the sinking -- most likely through the U.N. Security
Council -- takes precedent.
Backing from China is crucial as the country is a permanent member of the council.
On Thursday, it stopped short of supporting the South Korean conclusion.
"We are seeing another Cold War looming in the region," Yang said, adding
Pyongyang may altogether renounce its intent to return to the talks if the
Cheonan sinking prevents the talks from reopening.
The six-nation talks, which also include Japan and Russia, have been stalled
since late 2008.
The Korean Peninsula is already dubbed the world's last remaining Cold War
frontier, as the 1950-53 Korean War, seen often as a by-product of the rivalry
between the Soviet Union and the United States, has yet to formally end with a
peace treaty.
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
visits, reluctance of China to support S. Korea; TRIMS; RECASTS headline; ADDS S.
Korean president's comments)
By Sam Kim
SEOUL, May 20 (Yonhap) -- In a bleak contrast with the heart-warming rendezvous
between the leaders of the Koreas in Pyongyang a decade ago, South Korea
announced Thursday that a North Korean submarine had sneaked into its waters and
torpedoed its warship -- awakening the nation to the bitter reality of the
world's sole remaining Cold War frontier.
The attack was carried out, investigators say, on the night of March 26 near a
western border island that had already born witness to a brief but fierce naval
gunfight between the Koreas last year.
A 1,200-ton corvette named after the central city of Cheonan tore in half while
its 104 crew members went about their business, taking 46 of them down with the
ship into the murky sea.
On Thursday, ending a weeks-long investigation that drew experts from around the
world, the government said it had nailed the culprit by analyzing a collection of
parts and shards from a North Korean-made torpedo.
"The evidence points overwhelmingly to the conclusion that the torpedo was fired
by a North Korean submarine. There is no other plausible explanation," it said in
a report, citing a multinational team of investigators.
North Korea immediately denied its role, warning of "tough measures including an
all-out war" for any retaliation. It also said it would dispatch an "inspection
group" to verify the South Korean conclusion, an offer Seoul appeared undecided
on.
The South Korean announcement on Thursday marks "a moment that inter-Korean
relations have essentially ended," Paik Hak-soon, a North Korea expert at the
Sejong Institute, said. "They will remain that way unless a fundamental political
change takes place in either Seoul or Pyongyang."
Paik forecast Pyongyang will move to unite its people, exploiting heightened
tensions to consolidate its grip on power and empowering military hard-liners to
deal with eroded relations.
The Cheonan sinking has already vindicated South Korea's reluctance to allow
exchanges with the communist neighbor. Since last week, South Korea has stopped
funding any government-level projects with North Korea and urged hundreds of
companies doing business with the communist neighbor not to pursue new ventures.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said Thursday he is considering "tough
measures needed to hold (North Korea) to account," renewing his resolve as
"commander-in-chief and top state official."
Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean studies, said it is
likely that South Korea will move to restrict North Korean ships from entering
its waters.
"That will prompt the North to refuse to guarantee the safety of South Korean
airplanes flying over its eastern waters" as it did last year amid fraying
inter-Korean ties, Yang said.
The analysts said the greatest victim in the saga following the Cheonan sinking
will be the more than 110 South Korean manufacturing firms in the North Korean
border town of Kaesong.
The complex, which hires 42,000 North Korean workers, is the last remaining
reconciliation symbol after Pyongyang ditched Seoul as its partner last month for
cross-border tours to Mount Kumgang.
Casting a cloud over the fate of the complex, North Korea expelled a South Korean
worker last week over a training booklet that had apparently slipped into his
possession by accident.
"When things go wrong, everything that would have passed as fine goes wrong,"
Yang said. "It's unlikely the Kaesong industrial complex will survive the
crumbling political ties in the long run."
Yang predicted South Korea will toughen its restrictions on the transportation of
resources into the North. On Thursday, the Seoul Unification Ministry said it
decided not to approve the visits of more than 30 South Koreans to North Korea.
The ministry, which had led exchanges with North Korea after South Korean
President Kim Dae-jung met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang for
the first-ever inter-Korean summit, has issued a safety warning for its citizens
in the North.
This prompted South Korean shipping companies to suspend their sand imports from
North Korea, a six-year-old project that was seen as mitigating tension in the
western waters.
Economic cooperation boomed following the meeting between the two Kims in 2000.
It appeared to get a boost when Kim Dae-jung's liberal successor, Roh Moo-hyun,
met with Kim Jong-il for another summit in October 2007.
Less than half a year later, the ties turned sour when conservative President Lee
took power in Seoul and urged North Korea to show progress in denuclearization
before it receives large-scale aid and cooperation from south of its border.
North Korea called him a "traitor." Last November, a North Korean patrol boat
crossed the Yellow Sea border and opened fire on a South Korean one, only to
retreat in flames.
The clearest act of defiance came in May last year when North Korea conducted its
second nuclear test, raising tension both on the peninsula and in the
international arena.
"In the worst scenario possible, we can expect North Korea to conduct a third
nuclear test if South Korea and the United States continue to pressure it over
the Cheonan sinking," Yang said.
South Korea and the U.S. have said that the tragedy will affect the six-nation
talks, which are aimed at denuclearizing North Korea through incentives. South
Korea says punishment for the sinking -- most likely through the U.N. Security
Council -- takes precedent.
Backing from China is crucial as the country is a permanent member of the council.
On Thursday, it stopped short of supporting the South Korean conclusion.
"We are seeing another Cold War looming in the region," Yang said, adding
Pyongyang may altogether renounce its intent to return to the talks if the
Cheonan sinking prevents the talks from reopening.
The six-nation talks, which also include Japan and Russia, have been stalled
since late 2008.
The Korean Peninsula is already dubbed the world's last remaining Cold War
frontier, as the 1950-53 Korean War, seen often as a by-product of the rivalry
between the Soviet Union and the United States, has yet to formally end with a
peace treaty.
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
