(EDITORIAL from the Korea Times on Jan. 19) - North Korea Should Refrain from Provocative Acts

North Korea's threat to take an ``all-out confrontational posture'' against the South is seen as a carefully calculated move to escalate tension ahead of Barack Obama's inauguration as 44th U.S. president. It seems that the reclusive communist country is trying to draw attention from the new American government that is expected to prioritize troubled spots such as Iraq and Afghanistan over the North Korean nuclear issue.

It is quite unusual that a spokesman for the chief of the General Staff of the
(North) Korean People's Army issued a televised statement threatening to wipe out
the South. Wearing a military uniform, he read the strongly worded message on the
North's official Korean Central Broadcasting Station. The spokesman did not
hesitate to use slanderous remarks to bring about confrontation to the
inter-Korean ties.
``Now that traitor (South Korean President) Lee Myung-bak and his group opted for
confrontation,'' the North Korean military official said Saturday, ``our
revolutionary armed forces are compelled to take an all-out confrontational
posture to shatter them.'' Such a message is the first of its kind from the North
Korean army's General Staff in 10 years. The acerbic statement came just hours
after the North's Foreign Ministry said Pyongyang may not give up its nuclear
weapons even if its ties with Washington were normalized.
The ministry's spokesman said the North will maintain nuclear weapons it has
developed until it becomes free from the U.S. nuclear threat. ``Normalization of
diplomatic relations and the nuclear issue are entirely different issues,'' the
spokesman said. ``We can live without normalized relations with the United States
but can't live without the nuclear deterrence. That is the reality of Korea
today.''
Judging from the two separate statements, the North is apparently attempting to
make use of the saber-rattling tactics to pressure the South to change its
hard-line policy toward the world's last Stalinist country. At the same time the
North is struggling to win an upper hand in to-be-resumed talks with the U.S.
over the nuclear issue.
What's really worrisome is that the North might use military force to nullify the
maritime borderline on the West Sea that was drawn by the U.S.-led United Nations
Command at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. The North has repeatedly claimed
that the borderline should be redrawn further south, leading to naval clashes
between the two Koreas in 1999 and 2002.
In this situation, the South should not overreact to the North's brinkmanship
tactics. What's important is to avoid any unnecessary conflicts with the North
and further deterioration in the inter-Korean relations that have frayed since
President Lee took office last February. The Lee administration has opted for a
low-key approach toward the North although it is stepping up its combat readiness
to cope with any potential emergencies.
It is also necessary for Seoul and Washington to make joint efforts to better
deal with the recalcitrant North. No one is certain about what the unpredictable
communist regime will do to divert attention from its internal problems such as
the reported ill health of its leader Kim Jong-il. Therefore, South Korea and the
U.S. should strengthen collaboration in forcing the North to completely dismantle
its nuclear program and become a responsible member of the international
community. First of all, Pyongyang ought to give up its saber rattling and
brinkmanship to move toward reconciliation, peace and co-prosperity on the Korean
Peninsular.
(END)