ID :
195966
Wed, 07/20/2011 - 06:48
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/195966
The shortlink copeid
Defense Minister Kim says situation in N. Korea 'inauspicious'
SEOUL, July 20 (Yonhap) -- North Korea may be dealing with a critical situation but the communist regime's chokehold on its citizens will likely prevent an uprising, South Korea's top defense official said Wednesday.
"The state of affairs in the North is indeed inauspicious and anything can happen there," said Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin at a local forum. Kim, however, didn't mention any specific reason to back his words.
"Perhaps the Jasmine Revolution could find its way into North Korea," Kim said. "But in the past, when Korean-Japanese entered the North, not much happened there because the regime had a tight control on its citizens. And I believe the North still maintains strong control."
The impoverished North is said to be suffering from severe food shortages. It has stepped up appeals for food aid this year, having relied mostly on foreign aid to feed its 24 million people since natural disasters and mismanagement wrecked its economy in the mid-1990s.
This month, heavy downpours battered many areas of the North, causing casualties and flooding homes, farms and roads.
Kim also remarked on Seoul's response to a potential North Korean provocation. Last year, the North torpedoed a South Korean warship and later shelled a border island off the west coast, killing 50 people in total.
"Now we can't afford not to respond to North Korean provocations," Kim said. "Since the armistice (that ended the 1950-53 Korean War), North Korea has repeated a pattern of carrying out provocations, negotiating to win a few concessions and then provoking again. It may just repeat these steps."
"The state of affairs in the North is indeed inauspicious and anything can happen there," said Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin at a local forum. Kim, however, didn't mention any specific reason to back his words.
"Perhaps the Jasmine Revolution could find its way into North Korea," Kim said. "But in the past, when Korean-Japanese entered the North, not much happened there because the regime had a tight control on its citizens. And I believe the North still maintains strong control."
The impoverished North is said to be suffering from severe food shortages. It has stepped up appeals for food aid this year, having relied mostly on foreign aid to feed its 24 million people since natural disasters and mismanagement wrecked its economy in the mid-1990s.
This month, heavy downpours battered many areas of the North, causing casualties and flooding homes, farms and roads.
Kim also remarked on Seoul's response to a potential North Korean provocation. Last year, the North torpedoed a South Korean warship and later shelled a border island off the west coast, killing 50 people in total.
"Now we can't afford not to respond to North Korean provocations," Kim said. "Since the armistice (that ended the 1950-53 Korean War), North Korea has repeated a pattern of carrying out provocations, negotiating to win a few concessions and then provoking again. It may just repeat these steps."
