North Korea-weekly review-1

NORTH KOREA NEWSLETTER NO. 40 (February 5, 2009)

*** TOPIC OF THE WEEK (Part 1)

N. Korea Scraps Accords with South, Justifies Nuclear Arms Possession

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea in recent days has hurled a string of bellicose
threats against South Korea, declaring it is scrapping all political and military
accords with Seoul and even threatening armed conflict. Experts agree there are
multiple aims behind Pyongyang's actions, including challenging Seoul's hardline
policies and gaining leverage over Washington in future disarmament talks.
On Jan. 30, the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the
Fatherland, an organization dealing with South Korean affairs, said all
agreements preventing confrontation between the two Koreas would be nullified,
including one covering a maritime border on the West Sea (Yellow Sea) -- the
scene of bloody naval clashes in 1999 and 2002.
Pyongyang's announcement came as the new U.S. administration began reviewing its
North Korea policy. Given the timing, many analysts suspect the move was aimed at
drawing Washington's attention to the stalled negotiations on North Korea's
nuclear program and ensuring Pyongyang remains a diplomatic priority for U.S.
President Barack Obama.
They add the North is also hoping to put pressure on conservative South Korean
President Lee Myung-bak to alter his hardline stance on inter-Korean relations
and to drum up political support at home.
Since the 1970s, the two Koreas have signed a series of agreements on
non-aggression and cooperation that the North has flouted repeatedly, rendering
the pacts little more than symbolic accords.
But the latest threatening remarks by the North's committee mark the first time
that North Korea has officially nullified the accords. "The confrontation between
the North and the South in the political and military fields has been put to such
extremes that inter-Korean relations have reached the brink of war," the
committee said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency
(KCNA).
It went on to blast Lee for "ruthlessly scrapping" pacts reached at historic
inter-Korean summits in 2000 and 2007. "The group of traitors has already reduced
all the agreements reached between the North and the South in the past to dead
documents," it said. "Under such a situation, it is self-evident that there is no
need for the DPRK (North Korea) to remain bound to those North-South agreements."
The statement came less than two weeks after the North's army threatened an
"all-out confrontational posture" against Seoul. On Jan.17, its army General
Staff warned it would not allow intrusions by South Korean vessels into the
disputed West Sea waters.
The North has never recognized the Northern Limit Line, a sea border drawn
unilaterally by U.S.-led United Nations forces after the 1950-1953 Korean War.
Although the line has served as a de facto border, North Korea has frequently
demanded it be redrawn further south -- a move Seoul has consistently rejected.
Six South Korean soldiers were killed in a naval clash in June 2002 in the area,
with North Korean casualties believed to be much higher. In June 1999, a similar
skirmish killed dozens of North Korean sailors.
South Korea has expressed regret over Pyongyang's hostile posturing and pledged
"firm counteraction" against any violation of the sea border. The Unification
Ministry called on the North to stop raising tension and return to dialogue,
while the Defense Ministry said the military is on enhanced alert around the West
Sea, though no unusual signs have been spotted along the border. The Navy has
reportedly deployed a 4,500-ton destroyer and ordered forces there to be fully
prepared against any North Korean provocation.
"Our government expresses deep regret to North Korea for unilaterally scrapping
the agreements," Kim Ho-nyoun, spokesman for Seoul's Unification Ministry
handling North Korean affairs, said in a press conference. "We urge North Korea
to accept our call for dialogue as soon as possible," he continued. The spokesman
said the 1991 accord could not be abolished unilaterally by the North.
Inter-Korean relations have steadily deteriorated since Lee's inauguration last
February, with the government adopting a tougher position on North Korea than its
two liberal predecessors.
Lee froze economic and humanitarian aid to the communist nation, prompting
Pyongyang to cut off dialogue with Seoul. His policy of linking inter-Korean
rapprochement to North Korea's progress in denuclearization and comments saying
he would review past summit agreements has been harshly criticized by Pyongyang,
which has repeatedly labeled the South Korean leader a "traitor."
Last December, Pyongyang expelled hundreds of South Koreans from a joint
industrial complex in the North and tightened border controls in protest over
Seoul's hardline policy.
Pyongyang's latest threats followed Lee's nomination of a hawkish scholar as
Seoul's new unification minister, an appointment North Korea has called an
"outright challenge."
Hyun In-taek, a political science professor at Korea University, was a key
architect of Lee's so-called "denuclearization, openness, 3000" policy on North
Korea. The term refers to Lee's pledge to help North Korea achieve US$3,000
per-capita income for North Koreans if the socialist country opens its society
and denuclearizes. In line with that policy, Lee suspended South Korea's
customary rice and fertilizer aid to the North.
On Feb. 2, North Korea also vowed to hold onto its nuclear weapons until the
United States removes all "nuclear threats" against it. The warning came after
similar statements failed to draw a reaction from the new U.S. administration.
"The Lee Myung-bak group of traitors should clearly understand that the
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is by no means an issue of 'dismantling
the North's nuclear weapons,'" a spokesman for the General Staff of the Korean
People's Army said in an interview carried by the North's official KCNA. "The
DPRK will never 'dismantle its nuclear weapons' unless nukes in South Korea are
dismantled to remove the nuclear threat from the U.S.," the spokesman said.
A similar nuclear warning was issued by the North's Foreign Ministry on Jan. 13.
Pyongyang claims it was forced to develop nuclear weapons in the face of "nuclear
threats" from the U.S. military stationed in South Korea. Seoul officials deny
South Korea has any atomic weapons.
The U.S. military withdrew its nuclear arsenal from the South in the early 1990s,
following an inter-Korean denuclearization pact in 1992. Still, Washington has
said it will provide a nuclear umbrella for South Korea if it is attacked by the
North.
The North's military spokesman also called for "nuclear disarmament" talks
between all nuclear powers. Analysts interpret the message as Pyongyang's bid for
bilateral negotiations with Washington. "The Lee group should know well that the
only way of eliminating nukes under the present situation where the hostile
relations persist is for those parties concerned that have nukes to opt for
nuclear disarmament simultaneously," the spokesman said.
Washington and Seoul officials have downplayed North Korea's recent warnings,
with State Department spokesman Robert Wood saying, " this type of rhetoric is
distinctly not helpful." Wood also affirmed Washington's committment to the
six-party talks.
Contrary to experts' analyses, Pyongyang has claimed its escalation of
hostilities is directly aimed at the hard-line policies of South Korea's
President. The North's main newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, took a harsher tone in a
commentary following the military announcement, saying an armed conflict could
possibly erupt on the Korean Peninsula if Seoul ignores its warnings.
While it is unclear how the Obama administration will choose to respond, the
arrival of a group of seven former U.S. government officials and experts in
Pyongyang on Feb. 3 may be a sign of warmer ties down the road.
The group's visit marks the first major civilian exchange between the two nations
since Obama's inauguration last month. Stephen Bosworth, a former U.S. ambassador
to South Korea and reportedly a candidate for the post of special envoy to
Pyongyang, was among those visiting.
North Korea and its five dialogue partners will also convene a meeting later this
month in Moscow on ways to establish a regional peace mechanism.
(END)