EDITORIAL from the Korea Times on March 23)

Peninsula in vortex

North Korea is dashing this way and rushing that in raising tensions on both the
Korean Peninsula and outside.

On the one hand, Pyongyang is refusing to receive U.S. food aid as part of its
preparation for the test-fire of a satellite-cum-missile. The communist regime is
also busy making the most of a joint industrial complex in controlling the tension
level in inter-Korean relationship on the other.

An interesting thing in the current tug-of-war between Pyongyang and its major
regional counterparts is the relatively calmer and subdued attitude of Washington in
contrast with quicker, noisier responses from Seoul and Tokyo.

The U.S. government has recently hinted that it doesn't regard the scheduled launch
of the North's missile as a serious threat, although a top U.S. military official
showed confidence to knock it down. The U.S. stance is on the extension of its
previous de facto acknowledgement of the possibility that the reclusive North might
already possess several nuclear bombs, but Washington doesn't mind about it too
much.

Tokyo is busy readying itself to intercept the North's long-range missile ??? or
satellite ??? expected to fly far beyond Japan, in case the launch fails and parts
of the broken rocket fall over the country.

Seoul, which seemed clueless over how to hit back at the barrage of North Korean
offensives, has finally come up with its long-hidden ace card ??? the threat of
joining the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) ??? once Pyongyang goes ahead
with the launch. When it comes to Seoul's participation in the U.S.-led efforts
against weapons of mass destruction, most experts agree on one thing: It would have
far more to lose than gain by drastically raising tensions on the peninsula to a
level that would cause a military clash at any time, adversely affecting the
six-party denuclearization talks and getting on the nerves of China and Russia.

From the attitudes of both Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan and key ruling party
officials, the governing camp appears united on toying with this risky option,
reconfirming the hearsay in the political community that it reflects the
determination of President Lee Myung-bak, who has long stressed ``Global Korea's"
contribution to international campaign.

We just hope the widespread criticism among opposition politicians will prove wrong
that President Lee thinks it ``more convenient" for governing the country and
pushing for his conservative agenda to maintain a ``certain level" of inter-Korean
tension.

Whether the opposition's criticism has some grounds or not, the government's
emotional, tit-for-tat tactic is undesirable in any case: If Washington cooperates
with Seoul to keep alienating the North, it could escalate the tension to a point of
no return. If the Barack Obama administration decides to directly approach
Pyongyang, as it is doing now with Tehran, the Lee administration will find itself
in a very funny, awkward position.

Now, the South Korean government and media is abuzz with talk about the North's
detention of two U.S. journalists, while the three other countries directly
involved, including China, are seeking a quiet solution.

The incident, which seems to have been caused by an overzealous reporters'
indiscreet crossing of the Sino-Korean border, is hoped to serve as an occasion for
breaking the impasse and opening a dialogue channel between Washington and
Pyongyang. The North should not give in to temptation to use them politically, which
will only please hard-liners on both halves of the peninsula once again.
(END)