ID :
43491
Sat, 01/31/2009 - 13:31
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/43491
The shortlink copeid
EDITORIAL from the Korea Herald on Jan. 31) - N.K. hostility
Only days after declaring that it wants to live in peace with all sides and that it is not willing to see tensions emerge on the Korean Peninsula, North Korea did just the opposite yesterday.
On Friday, North Korea unilaterally scrapped all inter-Korean agreements aimed at
resolving political and military confrontation between the two countries and
declared the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border on the West Sea,
to be null.
The announcement significantly raises tensions on the peninsula, including the
possibility of another naval clash on the West Sea. Naval clashes in the area in
1999 and 2002 resulted in several deaths on both sides.
In voiding all previous military agreements, North Korea's Committee for the
Peaceful Reunification of Korea which handles inter-Korean affairs, charged that
"The group of traitors has already reduced all the agreements reached between the
North and South in the past to dead documents." This charge is in reference to
the agreements signed in 2000 and 2007 by previous liberal governments, which the
conservative President Lee Myung-bak has chosen to review. Lee has said that the
Basic Agreement that went to effect in 1992 will form the basis of inter-Korean
relations.
Pyongyang has said on many occasions that the NLL - unilaterally drawn by the
U.S.-led U.N. Command at the end of the Korean War - should be redrawn further
south.
In fact, Pyongyang has been gradually stepping up the ante against South Korea.
In December, it expelled hundreds of South Koreans from a joint industrial
complex in Gaeseong and tightened border controls. Earlier this month, North
Korea's military threatened a "confrontational posture" against the South and
warned that it would not allow intrusions into the disputed waters in the West
Sea.
It is ironic that in declaring all political and military agreements between the
South and the North to be null and void, Pyongyang specially cited the 1992 Basic
Agreement. "The Agreement on Reconciliation, Non-Aggression, Cooperation and
Exchange between the North and the South and the points on the military boundary
line in the West Sea stipulated in its appendix will be nullified," North Korea's
statement said.
Exactly what other inter-Korean agreements North Korea has chosen to unilaterally
declare null is yet unclear. It is also not clear whether North Korea will take
actions to heighten military tensions on the peninsula as a follow-up to its
rhetoric.
However, the South Korean government should remain alert for any unusual signs as
Pyongyang may be issuing statements to justify actions that it may take in the
future. Furthermore, while Seoul should not be blackmailed into improving
relations with the communist state, a breakthrough must be found to engage
Pyongyang.
In these times of economic crisis, it is not in our national interest to have yet
another uncertainty in the form of a hostile neighbor issuing threats and raising
security risks.
(END)
On Friday, North Korea unilaterally scrapped all inter-Korean agreements aimed at
resolving political and military confrontation between the two countries and
declared the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border on the West Sea,
to be null.
The announcement significantly raises tensions on the peninsula, including the
possibility of another naval clash on the West Sea. Naval clashes in the area in
1999 and 2002 resulted in several deaths on both sides.
In voiding all previous military agreements, North Korea's Committee for the
Peaceful Reunification of Korea which handles inter-Korean affairs, charged that
"The group of traitors has already reduced all the agreements reached between the
North and South in the past to dead documents." This charge is in reference to
the agreements signed in 2000 and 2007 by previous liberal governments, which the
conservative President Lee Myung-bak has chosen to review. Lee has said that the
Basic Agreement that went to effect in 1992 will form the basis of inter-Korean
relations.
Pyongyang has said on many occasions that the NLL - unilaterally drawn by the
U.S.-led U.N. Command at the end of the Korean War - should be redrawn further
south.
In fact, Pyongyang has been gradually stepping up the ante against South Korea.
In December, it expelled hundreds of South Koreans from a joint industrial
complex in Gaeseong and tightened border controls. Earlier this month, North
Korea's military threatened a "confrontational posture" against the South and
warned that it would not allow intrusions into the disputed waters in the West
Sea.
It is ironic that in declaring all political and military agreements between the
South and the North to be null and void, Pyongyang specially cited the 1992 Basic
Agreement. "The Agreement on Reconciliation, Non-Aggression, Cooperation and
Exchange between the North and the South and the points on the military boundary
line in the West Sea stipulated in its appendix will be nullified," North Korea's
statement said.
Exactly what other inter-Korean agreements North Korea has chosen to unilaterally
declare null is yet unclear. It is also not clear whether North Korea will take
actions to heighten military tensions on the peninsula as a follow-up to its
rhetoric.
However, the South Korean government should remain alert for any unusual signs as
Pyongyang may be issuing statements to justify actions that it may take in the
future. Furthermore, while Seoul should not be blackmailed into improving
relations with the communist state, a breakthrough must be found to engage
Pyongyang.
In these times of economic crisis, it is not in our national interest to have yet
another uncertainty in the form of a hostile neighbor issuing threats and raising
security risks.
(END)
