ID :
43366
Fri, 01/30/2009 - 19:10
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/43366
The shortlink copeid
(News Focus) N. Korea revives Cold War tensions with renewed border threats By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Jan. 30 (Yonhap) -- With threats Friday to scrap the most fundamental safeguard accord against inter-Korean military clashes, North Korea revived Cold War era tensions and sent an ultimatum to Seoul's government: withdraw hardline policy or face a possible clash.
Whether Pyongyang will immediately attempt a military provocation is uncertain,
but analysts cautioned Seoul to be on full alert along a volatile inter-Korean
sea border where bloody skirmishes occurred in 1999 and 2002.
The latest threats come at a highly sensitive time in the region as the new
Barack Obama administration in the United States is reviewing policy on North
Korea while a hawkish scholar in Seoul is set to take office as the new
unification minister.
North Korea will also celebrate leader Kim Jong-il's birthday in coming weeks, an
event that usually rekindles military loyalty to him.
"It's a many-sided strategy," Yoo Ho-yeol, a North Korea studies professor at
Korea University, said.
"The North wants the U.S. to realize the seriousness of the situation on the
Korean Peninsula and that it should start dialogue with the North quickly.
Internally, it wants to solidify unity by raising tension with South Korea.
Towards the Lee Myung-bak government, it is applying tremendous pressure to force
it to back down."
Pyongyang issued in recent weeks a slew of blistering statements as it appeared
to engage in brinkmanship diplomacy to draw Washington's attention and increase
pressure on the conservative government in Seoul.
In its most acerbic warning in nearly two decades, North Korea said on Friday it
is scrapping the landmark 1991 Basic Agreement and declared the western sea
border void.
The 1991 agreement, ratified the following year, pledged the two Koreas to a
reduction of tension and boosting of reconciliatory efforts, acting as a
safeguard against military clashes along the frail maritime border in the Yellow
Sea.
Known as the Northern Limit Line, the western sea border was unilaterally drawn
by the U.S.-led United Nations Command at the end of the 1950-53 war. North Korea
has insisted the sea border should be re-drawn farther south. Military skirmishes
occurred there in 1999 and 2002, leaving scores of soldiers killed or wounded on
both sides.
"The origin of the NLL is deeply interlinked with the United States," Kim
Young-soo, a political professor at Sogang University said, noting the U.S.
military fought with South Korea during the war.
"North Korea has been expecting the Obama administration to roll out an
engagement policy, but the U.S. has made clear that its principles on the North's
nuclear program are strict. Pyongyang is saying to Washington, 'We won't wait for
U.S. engagement. We'll find a solution by driving the situation to the brink of a
catastrophe,'" he said.
Paik Hak-soon, a senior research fellow with the Sejong Institute, an independent
think tank, said North Korea's latest warnings to scrap the basic accord are far
more serious than earlier threats. Pyongyang is sending an ultimatum to the Lee
government and a message for dialogue to Washington, he said.
"It is also a message to U.S. President Barack Obama, saying 'inter-Korean
relations have been good in the past but the Lee government is worsening the
situation. Do not involve South Korea in negotiations with the North,'" he said.
Seoul officials made clear there will be no shift in their current hardline
stance. The South Korean government expressed "deep regret" and reiterated their
position urging North Korea to "accept our call for dialogue as soon as
possible."
Lee will also go ahead with his nomination of a hawkish scholar as the new
unification minister, ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun said. Pyongyang described
Hyun In-taek's nomination as Seoul's declaration "to the world that it will
oppose us to the end."
"Inter-Korean relations have reached such pass that there is neither way to
improve them nor hope to bring them on track," said the statement, issued by the
North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, a body handling
inter-Korean affairs.
Hyun, now awaiting parliamentary approval, was a key architect of Lee's North
Korea policy linking economic aid to Pyongyang's denuclearization. Abiding by
that policy, Lee suspended South Korea's customary rice and fertilizer aid to the
North.
"The North is sensing that South Korea's government is becoming more
conservative," Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea professor at Dongguk University, said.
"North Korea is saying that it won't just sit and watch."
In addition to North Korea's celebration of Kim Jong-il's 67th birthday on Feb.
16, an event analysts say will likely motivate the North's 1.1-million-strong
military to demonstrate its loyalty, North Korea also holds parliamentary
elections in March that could accelerate a power shift in Pyongyang.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
Whether Pyongyang will immediately attempt a military provocation is uncertain,
but analysts cautioned Seoul to be on full alert along a volatile inter-Korean
sea border where bloody skirmishes occurred in 1999 and 2002.
The latest threats come at a highly sensitive time in the region as the new
Barack Obama administration in the United States is reviewing policy on North
Korea while a hawkish scholar in Seoul is set to take office as the new
unification minister.
North Korea will also celebrate leader Kim Jong-il's birthday in coming weeks, an
event that usually rekindles military loyalty to him.
"It's a many-sided strategy," Yoo Ho-yeol, a North Korea studies professor at
Korea University, said.
"The North wants the U.S. to realize the seriousness of the situation on the
Korean Peninsula and that it should start dialogue with the North quickly.
Internally, it wants to solidify unity by raising tension with South Korea.
Towards the Lee Myung-bak government, it is applying tremendous pressure to force
it to back down."
Pyongyang issued in recent weeks a slew of blistering statements as it appeared
to engage in brinkmanship diplomacy to draw Washington's attention and increase
pressure on the conservative government in Seoul.
In its most acerbic warning in nearly two decades, North Korea said on Friday it
is scrapping the landmark 1991 Basic Agreement and declared the western sea
border void.
The 1991 agreement, ratified the following year, pledged the two Koreas to a
reduction of tension and boosting of reconciliatory efforts, acting as a
safeguard against military clashes along the frail maritime border in the Yellow
Sea.
Known as the Northern Limit Line, the western sea border was unilaterally drawn
by the U.S.-led United Nations Command at the end of the 1950-53 war. North Korea
has insisted the sea border should be re-drawn farther south. Military skirmishes
occurred there in 1999 and 2002, leaving scores of soldiers killed or wounded on
both sides.
"The origin of the NLL is deeply interlinked with the United States," Kim
Young-soo, a political professor at Sogang University said, noting the U.S.
military fought with South Korea during the war.
"North Korea has been expecting the Obama administration to roll out an
engagement policy, but the U.S. has made clear that its principles on the North's
nuclear program are strict. Pyongyang is saying to Washington, 'We won't wait for
U.S. engagement. We'll find a solution by driving the situation to the brink of a
catastrophe,'" he said.
Paik Hak-soon, a senior research fellow with the Sejong Institute, an independent
think tank, said North Korea's latest warnings to scrap the basic accord are far
more serious than earlier threats. Pyongyang is sending an ultimatum to the Lee
government and a message for dialogue to Washington, he said.
"It is also a message to U.S. President Barack Obama, saying 'inter-Korean
relations have been good in the past but the Lee government is worsening the
situation. Do not involve South Korea in negotiations with the North,'" he said.
Seoul officials made clear there will be no shift in their current hardline
stance. The South Korean government expressed "deep regret" and reiterated their
position urging North Korea to "accept our call for dialogue as soon as
possible."
Lee will also go ahead with his nomination of a hawkish scholar as the new
unification minister, ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun said. Pyongyang described
Hyun In-taek's nomination as Seoul's declaration "to the world that it will
oppose us to the end."
"Inter-Korean relations have reached such pass that there is neither way to
improve them nor hope to bring them on track," said the statement, issued by the
North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, a body handling
inter-Korean affairs.
Hyun, now awaiting parliamentary approval, was a key architect of Lee's North
Korea policy linking economic aid to Pyongyang's denuclearization. Abiding by
that policy, Lee suspended South Korea's customary rice and fertilizer aid to the
North.
"The North is sensing that South Korea's government is becoming more
conservative," Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea professor at Dongguk University, said.
"North Korea is saying that it won't just sit and watch."
In addition to North Korea's celebration of Kim Jong-il's 67th birthday on Feb.
16, an event analysts say will likely motivate the North's 1.1-million-strong
military to demonstrate its loyalty, North Korea also holds parliamentary
elections in March that could accelerate a power shift in Pyongyang.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
