Seoul will take "necessary" time to change N. Korea: official

By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, Feb. 25 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will not submit to North Korea's threats
regardless of how long it takes before inter-Korean talks are resumed, a senior
presidential adviser said Wednesday.
Park Hyung-joon, senior assistant for public affairs, also said North Korea's
launch of what it claims is a satellite will not be condoned by the international
community, even if it is a satellite and not a missile as suspected.
"What North Korea needs to do right now is to take an open-minded approach to
six-party talks and inter-Korean relations, rather than trying to seek gains by
threatening the international community," Park said in an interview on a local
radio program.
The communist nation on Tuesday said it plans to launch an "experimental
communications satellite" called Kwangmyongsong-2, though many believe it will be
a test for a long-range missile as both satellites and missiles require similar
launch systems.
"Whether it is a missile or a satellite, it is an activity that will not be
welcomed by the international community," Park said.
Inter-Korean relations are at their lowest ebb since South Korean President Lee
Myung-bak was inaugurated exactly one year ago Wednesday, with Pyongyang fueling
tension on the peninsula.
An unidentified spokesman for the North's Korean People's Army on Thursday said
the country was "fully ready for an all-out confrontation" with the South,
renewing earlier threats.
The South Korean president has repeatedly said the government is willing to talk
to North Korea at any time and any place, but only if Pyongyang is sincerely
ready for dialogue.
"There is a need for us to clearly show that North Korea's threats to the
international community will not mount to anything because security conditions on
the Korean Peninsula will not improve, nor will the North suddenly change its
attitude even if we show willingness to compromise," Park said.
"We believe it is better to start late and end well than to start early but end
badly," he added.
The two Koreas technically remain at war because the fratricidal 1950-1953 Korean
War ended only with an armistice, not a peace agreement.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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