S. Korea, U.S. must take 'decisive' action against N. Korea

SEOUL, Jan. 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States must take more "active and decisive" measures against North Korean provocations, possibly including military action by U.S. forces here, to show Pyongyang that hostility will not pay off, analysts said Thursday. The call for a stern measure against North Korea follows the communist nation's shelling of a populated South Korean island, Yeonpyeong, in November that killed four South Koreans, including two civilians. Lee Choon-geun, a researcher at the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI), said North Korea has launched an average of 3.8 military provocations a year since 1958, and an average of four a year from 1998 to 2008 when South Korea was mostly friendly under the so-called "Sunshine Policy" of the late former presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun. "Strong actions are the best option against North Korean provocations that will inevitably repeated due to North Korea's system," he said at a seminar hosted by the KERI. Huh Nam-sung, a retired Army colonel and professor emeritus at the Korea National Defense University, agreed that the North will continue to launch armed provocations against South Korea. "There is a possibility North Korea may intensify its armed provocation, but there is a clear limit for us to resolve the issue with only diplomatic means," he said. Huh also noted that it is not likely that Pyongyang will give up its nuclear capabilities, and thus a strong alliance and cooperation with the United States and strengthening of their joint defense postures is necessary to prevent or counter North Korean provocations. Michael Mazza, a researcher from the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, went a step further, calling for direct involvement and military action of U.S. forces based in South Korea in case of a North Korean provocation. The U.S. researcher said North Korea's recent provocations against South Korea may have been aimed at strengthening its grip on the people ahead of a full succession of power from leader Kim Jong-il to his son Jong-un, as well as winning additional concessions and economic assistance from the international community. Mazza said the North must be made to realize that its provocations will not bring it any good but may lead to actions by the U.S. military. The United States currently maintains some 28,500 troops in South Korea. The two Koreas technically remain at war as the 1950-53 Korean war ended only with an armistice, not a peace treaty. bdk@yna.co.kr (END)