ID :
132643
Tue, 07/13/2010 - 09:24
Auther :

EDITORIAL from the Korea Herald on July 13)

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Exit from Cheonan

The tears of the families of the 46 fallen Cheonan sailors have not dried yet,
but the parties involved in the tragic incident three and a half months ago are
mulling ???exit strategies??? from the security crisis. The U.N. Security Council
presidential statement issued last week which indirectly denounced North Korea
for the torpedo attack on the South Korean patrol craft provided an excuse for
the Seoul government to accept international realities and go back to the tedious
six-party framework aiming at fundamental solution to the North Korean question.
Immediately after the UNSC statement, both North Korea and China mentioned the
six-party talks as the primary step toward achieving peace on the Korean
Peninsula. Seoul had insisted that it would participate in the denuclearization
talks with North Korea only after the settlement of the Cheonan crisis. This
week, senior officials in Seoul indicated that they regarded the UNSC
presidential statement as a turning point.
They reiterate the demands to North Korea -- an apology for the sneak attack in
the South Korean waters, punishment of the responsible persons and a promise of
no recurrence of such incident -- but they now hope for a ???soft-landing??? of
the situation rather than an escalation of the situation through continued
pressures on the North.
It is clear to everyone that the UNSC presidential statement, substituting for
the stronger Security Council resolution that Seoul had wanted, was a product of
compromise between the United States and China. Their respective allies, South
and North Korea, must be realizing that respecting the compromise is the most
realistic course required of them. ???
Seoul, the victim of the crime, was content that the statement ???deplored??? and
???condemned??? the attack on the Cheonan which was obliquely attributed to North
Korea. Pyongyang should again thank China for shielding it against direct
international condemnation and sanctions and therefore should show willingness to
return to the six-party talks in Beijing.
The U.S.-China compromise stretched practically to the issue of the joint naval
exercise by South Korean and U.S. forces. The exercise was originally planned to
be conducted in the West Sea in June with the participation of the
nuclear-powered aircraft carrier George Washington, and other elements of the
U.S. Seventh Fleet as a demonstration of naval power. In the face of strong
Chinese protests, the exercise has been delayed and the allies are reported to be
considering changing the venue to the East Sea.
Now all players are using the Beijing conference as a convenient instrument to
justify exit from the Cheonan crisis. A North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman
pledged Pyongyang would ???consistently make efforts to realize the conclusion of
a peace treaty and denuclearization through equitable six-party talks.??? The
North clarified its position after the Chinese Foreign Ministry called for early
reopening of the six-way conference in order to ???jointly protect peace and
stability on the Korean Peninsula.???
Seoul???s vows of ???resolute action??? against North Korea, which an
international inquiry determined as the perpetrator of the torpedo attack on the
Cheonan, have been diluted, as it referred the issue to the UNSC in a great show
of restraint. After the UNSC presidential statement, Seoul is agreeing to bring
the matter to the Beijing conference table although it has no illusions about the
outcome.
Through on-and-off existence for full seven years, the multilateral talks proved
to be the laziest process in handling the regional problems of denuclearization
and peace. The Cheonan incident added one more item to the already complex agenda
of the conferences and it could further slow their progress should it ever be
resumed.
(END)

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