ID :
29491
Mon, 11/10/2008 - 21:38
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/29491
The shortlink copeid
Analyst calls for Seoul to be patient with Pyongyang's strategy
By Shim Sun-ah
SEOUL, Nov. 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korea should wait patiently even if North Korea tries to drive a wedge between it and the United States, pressuring Seoul to make concessions after Barack Obama's takeover of the White House, an analyst here said Monday.
Many politicians and newspaper editorials in Seoul have called on the government
to change its tough policy toward the North, saying the communist neighbor will
probably alienate the South if the U.S. president-elect pursues better relations
with Pyongyang after taking office in January.
"If the North Korea nuclear issue can be resolved through direct talks between
the North and the U.S., regardless of whether South Korea is sidelined in the
process or not, the South has no reason to try to prevent this," Yoon Deok-min, a
research fellow of the Institute of foreign Affairs and National Security, said
in a seminar on North Korea.
"South Korea tends to feel a sense of crisis if inter-Korean dialogue is in a
lull while dialogue between North Korea and the U.S. goes well," Yoon said.
Pyongyang, however, will eventually return to dialogue with Seoul, which is
willing to extend much aid to the communist state given it scraps nuclear program
when it feels the need, he said.
"Seoul needs to wait patiently without reacting sensitively to every change in
relations," he stressed.
Inter-Korean relations have been frayed since the conservative, pro-U.S. South
Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office in February and pledged to link
cross-border cooperation projects to North Korea's denuclearization.
North Korea did not request its annual shipment of 400,000 tons of rice and
300,000 tons of fertilizer aid from South Korea amid strained ties this year.
Pyongyang has spurned Lee's repeated dialogue offer and stepped up accusations on
him and his government.
Vice Unification Minister Hong Yang-ho said in his congratulatory speech to the
seminar that the mounting worry about the North's strategic alienation of Seoul
is "worthless" because the two allies pursue common values.
The alliance between the two countries is the strongest ever and has developed
both in quality and quantity, he added.
"South Korea and the U.S. will continue to work closely on major pending issues,
including North Korea policy," Hong said.
SEOUL, Nov. 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korea should wait patiently even if North Korea tries to drive a wedge between it and the United States, pressuring Seoul to make concessions after Barack Obama's takeover of the White House, an analyst here said Monday.
Many politicians and newspaper editorials in Seoul have called on the government
to change its tough policy toward the North, saying the communist neighbor will
probably alienate the South if the U.S. president-elect pursues better relations
with Pyongyang after taking office in January.
"If the North Korea nuclear issue can be resolved through direct talks between
the North and the U.S., regardless of whether South Korea is sidelined in the
process or not, the South has no reason to try to prevent this," Yoon Deok-min, a
research fellow of the Institute of foreign Affairs and National Security, said
in a seminar on North Korea.
"South Korea tends to feel a sense of crisis if inter-Korean dialogue is in a
lull while dialogue between North Korea and the U.S. goes well," Yoon said.
Pyongyang, however, will eventually return to dialogue with Seoul, which is
willing to extend much aid to the communist state given it scraps nuclear program
when it feels the need, he said.
"Seoul needs to wait patiently without reacting sensitively to every change in
relations," he stressed.
Inter-Korean relations have been frayed since the conservative, pro-U.S. South
Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office in February and pledged to link
cross-border cooperation projects to North Korea's denuclearization.
North Korea did not request its annual shipment of 400,000 tons of rice and
300,000 tons of fertilizer aid from South Korea amid strained ties this year.
Pyongyang has spurned Lee's repeated dialogue offer and stepped up accusations on
him and his government.
Vice Unification Minister Hong Yang-ho said in his congratulatory speech to the
seminar that the mounting worry about the North's strategic alienation of Seoul
is "worthless" because the two allies pursue common values.
The alliance between the two countries is the strongest ever and has developed
both in quality and quantity, he added.
"South Korea and the U.S. will continue to work closely on major pending issues,
including North Korea policy," Hong said.
