Obama's Korea policy likely to improve inter-Korean ties: lawmaker

By Kim Boram

SEOUL, Nov. 12 (Yonhap) -- Incoming U.S. President Barak Obama's Korea policy will help improve both inter-Korean and North Korea-U.S. relations, a ruling party lawmaker said Wednesday.

"Some are worried that South-North relations will become estranged as Washington
and Pyongyang improve their ties," said Rep. Park Jin of the Grand National Party
(GNP) at a forum hosted by the state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses.
"But if we forge a closer partnership with the new government of the United
States and establish a coordination mechanism for North Korea policy,
Seoul-Pyongyang relations will keep step with those between Washington and
Pyongyang," added Park, who heads the National Assembly committee on foreign
affairs, trade and unification.
North Korea has cut off most of its official dialogue with the South since
Seoul's conservative Lee Myung-bak administration was inaugurated in February.
Just hours after Park spoke, North Korea's military threatened to restrict or
completely cut off all overland passages across the inter-Korean border starting
next month.
In contrast, the communist nation has tried to maintain close contact with
Washington, which removed North Korea from the U.S. list of state sponsors of
terrorism last month, triggering concerns here that Seoul may be sidelined at
multilateral negotiations on ending North Korea's nuclear program.
Park dismissed the concern, saying the incoming U.S. administration will focus on
multilateral cooperation rather than engaging the communist North bilaterally. He
also noted the U.S. president-elect had repeatedly criticized the incumbent Bush
administration's unilateral track.
"Obama has a flexible approach toward North Korea, but has a firm principle of
denulcearization," said Park. "His policy is not one of unconditional
appeasement, and he will try to achieve Pyongyang's denuclearization through
aggressive and direct dialogue within the context of the six-party talks."
South Korea and the United States are part of the six-nation talks, also attended
by North Korea, China, Russia and Japan with the aim of ridding North Korea of
its nuclear weapons program.
Turning to other issues, the GNP legislator said the South Korea-U.S. alliance
will not face any immediate changes, but noted the new U.S. government under
Obama may ask Seoul to increase its contribution to global security as well as
their countries' joint defense of the Korean Peninsula.
"The Obama administration is expected to ask for Seoul's participation in
collective security, a challenging issue confronting the international community
today," Park said.
"I believe the Obama administration will also demand that (South Korea) shoulder
more burden and responsibility in the South Korea-U.S. military alliance," he
added.
The U.S. has maintained tens of thousands of troops in Korea since the end of the
1950-53 Korean War, but the issue of dividing the cost for stationing them has
become a source of confrontation between the two allies in recent years.
The countries have held several rounds of talks on cost-sharing this year, but
have not yet been able to reach an agreement. About 28,500 U.S. forces are
currently stationed here.
A group of legislators from the parliamentary foreign affairs committee will
visit Washington next week to meet with Obama's policy team.