Self-harming stupidity

North has more to lose from revealing taped recording

(EDITORIAL from the Korea Times on June 13)


Pyongyang raised its verbal attacks on Seoul a notch higher last Thursday, threatening to reveal audio-taped records of secret talks.
The North had better not turn its threat into action. It might put the Lee Myung-bak administration out of countenance for allegedly begging and bribing its officials for a summit meeting. But Pyongyang's act will strip the isolationist regime of the most basic necessity in diplomacy: trust. Humiliation is temporary, but loss of trust will last much longer.
The North's latest escalation of rhetoric seems to be aimed at striking back the South's repudiation that the secretive contact in Beijing was to induce an apology for attacks last year.
Seoul's excuse itself is pitiably lame, as one cannot imagine how a government could think of buying another's apology, and secretly at that. Even more lamentable is the Lee administration's poor handling of this matter. Seoul can never win in this "who's-telling-the-truth" game against an opponent which thinks it can reveal everything and has nothing to lose from it.
Now, Kim Jong-il and his coterie should know they will not be able to hold any unofficial talks with the South for a long, even with the Lee administration's successors. Koreans know the former Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun administrations arranged summits through these secretive, third-country negotiations, which also included discussions on cash "presents." The incumbent administration's mistake was being too clumsy and/or half-hearted.
So the government needs to be square and open as far as its efforts to normalize inter-Korean relations are concerned. By trying to cover up some awkward moments during the contact, it will only end up playing into Pyongyang???s hands.
Nor should the Lee administration show emotional reactions to North Korea's tirades, including its demand that the use of pictures of its rulers should not be used for target practice by some South Korean soldiers. It has only to say the government has ordered the stoppage of such practices, started by a low-ranked commander.
If Pyongyang still pushes ahead with the revelation of recorded conversation, it will be like losing one's own arm while trying to hurt another's fingers.
Most North Korea experts agree Pyongyang's latest exposure of the secret contact demonstrates the communist regime's decision to abandon talks with the Lee administration. That might be a sound guess. But we don't think President Lee and his security team should give up an attempt if -- and that of course is a very big if given what they have done -- they are genuinely interested in restoring cooperative ties.
Nothing is impossible in dealing with an unpredictable regime like the North if conditions are met, and more importantly, there is a modicum of trust between Koreas. It is well known Kim Jong-il and other North Korean leaders are concerned about their increasing, and inevitable, dependency on China.
One can hardly say for sure whether the Sunshine Policy by the previous two administrations would have ended up a success given more time. To be fair, chances might be half-half, which means it was a bet worth making. It is apparent, however, the incumbent government's hard-line policy will likely go nowhere, leaving only a lost five years as far as an inter-Korean relations are concerned.
Both one-sided generosity and severe indifference have their own limitations, calling forth the need for a "third way" in South-North relations. Former West Germany provided profuse aid to its eastern counterpart, mostly with conditions attached, such as easing human rights.
Wednesday is the 11th anniversary of the first inter-Korean summit.