NORTH KOREA NEWSLETTER NO. 44 (March 5, 2009)

*** INTER-KOREAN RELATIONS

President Lee Urges N. Korea to Abandon Missile Launch

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak called on North Korea
March 1 to halt its preparations to launch its claimed satellite, widely seen as
an attempt to test its missile capabilities, saying dialogue and cooperation are
its surest ways to survival.
"What really protects North Korea is not nuclear weapons or missiles, but its
cooperation with the South and cooperation with the international community," Lee
said in a speech at a ceremony marking the 1919 independence uprising against the
Japanese colonial rule of Korea. "Denuclearization is the shortcut for North
Korea to become a member of the international community and develop," he added.
The remarks came shortly after the North last week said it is preparing to launch
a communications satellite, not a long-range Taepodong-2 missile, as had been
suspected for weeks.
South Korean and U.S. officials have noted that any North Korean launch, whether
a satellite or a missile, would violate a U.N. Security Council resolution
adopted in 2006, prohibiting Pyongyang from any missile-related activities.
Experts also say there is little technological difference between firing a
satellite or a long-range missile.
The South Korean president said Seoul is ready to "greatly help" North Korea
should Pyongyang decide to give up its nuclear ambition and start working with
the international community. "The doors to unconditional (inter-Korean) dialogue
remain wide open even now. The South and the North must talk at the earliest date
possible," he said.
Pyongyang has cut off virtually all dialogue with Seoul since the South Korean
president was inaugurated a year ago on Feb. 25, vowing to end what he called
"unconditional concessions" to the communist nation by his two liberal
predecessors, Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun.

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Two Koreas Exchange Verbal Attacks on N. Korea's Human Rights

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- South Korea urged North Korea to take "necessary measures" to
address its abysmal human rights record at the regular session of the U.N. Human
Rights Council held in Geneva on March 3. But the North's envoy immediately fired
back at the South's comments.
In his keynote speech, South Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Shin Kak-soo urged
North Korea to "take necessary measures to improve its human rights situation in
full compliance with its obligations under international human rights law and
relevant treaties to which it is a party."
Shin added his government will work closely with the international community to
improve human rights conditions not only in North Korea, but also in "every
corner of the globe."
The North's envoy immediately lambasted Shin's comments. "The impertinent remarks
by the South's chief delegate on the DPRK's (North Korea) human rights issue
instigate confrontation and hatred," Choe Myong-nam, a councilor at the North's
diplomatic mission to Geneva, said.
The remarks should be criticized in "the strongest tone" as they violate the
contents and spirit of the historic inter-Korean summit deals on reconciliation
in 2000 and 2007, he argued.
Choe added the South Korean government should be held responsible for all
consequences stemming from such an anti-North Korean campaign, but did not
elaborate. He called for the South to abolish its "draconian" National Security
Law first if it really cares about human rights.
South Korea's tone this year was similar to that of last year's session, held
shortly after the launch of the conservative government of President Lee
Myung-bak. North Korea reacted angrily last year as well.
Lee's administration broke from the relatively low-key approach taken by his two
liberal predecessors by co-sponsoring a U.N. resolution condemning Pyongyang's
human rights abuses, marking the first such action for a South Korean government.

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Unification Minister Says N. Korean Missile Launch Not Imminent

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea is continuing preparations to launch what it claims
is a satellite, but an actual launch does not seem imminent, Seoul's unification
minister said March 4.
Hyun In-taek, a hard-line foreign policy expert who took office last month as
Seoul's new point man on Pyongyang, also said South Korea is closely working with
Washington to deter what appears to be a North Korean tactic to isolate South
Korea while trying to talk with the United States.
"I don't think the launch is very imminent, but various preparations are
underway," Hyun said in his first meeting with the press since he took office.
A missile launch is only a "hypothetical situation," Hyun said, expressing
reluctance to predict a date or whether Seoul would support international
sanctions against North Korea. "In whatever situation we may be, our government
will make every effort to ensure the safety of our citizens," he said.
North Korea said last month it is preparing to launch a communications satellite
into orbit, which South Korea and U.S. officials believe could actually be a test
of a long-range missile that in theory could reach the U.S. West Coast. Pyongyang
has not said when it will conduct the launch, but some analysts in Seoul point to
late March or early April, some time after North Korea holds its long overdue
parliamentary elections on March 8.
Turning to military talks North Korea requested with the U.S.-led United Nations
Command in South Korea this week, the minister acknowledged mounting concerns
about Pyongyang's apparent efforts to improve relations with Washington while
cutting dialogue with Seoul.
The U.N. Command, led by Gen. Walter Sharp, chief of the U.S. forces in South
Korea, oversees the cease-fire along the inter-Korean border, a legacy of the
1950-53 Korean War.
"The governments of South Korea and the U.S. share a deep understanding about
this concern and are closely cooperating on addressing it," Hyun said. "Even if
North Korea continues to try to talk with the U.S. while isolating the South, it
will not be able to succeed," he added.
Inter-Korean relations have dipped to a record low since President Lee Myung-bak
took office a year ago, toughening up on North Korea's nuclear program and
scrapping his liberal predecessors' policy of providing unconditional aid to the
impoverished state. Pyongyang cut off dialogue with Seoul in response to the
hard-line policy.
Hyun suggested there will be no immediate resumption of government-level rice and
fertilizer aid, which was suspended last year for the first time in a decade.
"There should be a certain momentum for the government to resume the aid, but we
will actively support aid operations sought by civic organizations and
international agencies," Hyun said.
The minister demanded North Korea stop its increasingly bitter denunciations of
Lee. Pyongyang rejected Lee's latest offer of dialogue earlier this week as
"disgusting sophism" and called him a "traitor."
"Our government views North Korean denunciations seriously and demands North
Korea immediately suspend them. And we urge North Korea to come forward to the
dialogue table," Hyun said.
(END)