(EDITORIAL from the Korea Times on April 3) - Inappropriate Detention

The prolonging detention of a South Korean worker in Gaeseong Industrial Complex by North Korea is causing suspicion about Pyongyang's intentions.

More seriously, the North has not allowed any access to the 44-year-old employee
of Hyundai Asan, the operator of the joint industrial zone in the border town,
since it unilaterally brought him into custody four days ago, merely repeating
there is no cause for concern over his health or safety.
Pyongyang says ??? also unilaterally ??? the man in question has criticized the
North's political system and ``instigated the defection of a female North Korean
worker by subverting her." But managers of the South Korean company have no idea
what actually happened between their employee and the North Korean workers.
All this is not right and hardly imaginable in a ``normal" society. No matter
what was wrong with the Hyundai employee, Pyongyang should at least respect his
basic rights and allow interviews with company officials and legal experts.
Managers at Hyundai say there have been similar incidents before, but unlike in
the past, the North Korean authorities seem to have decided to handle the latest
one in strict accordance with the communist country's legal system, triggering
one to ask ``why now?"
Which drives us to another suspicion; that the isolationist regime is using the
case, along with one involving two American reporters arrested over the frozen
Tumen River on the Sino-Korean border, as ``bargaining chips" in negotiations
with the United States and South Korea expected to take place in the wake of the
North's rocket launch days later. The longer their detention, the stronger will
such suspicion become.
The two U.S. journalists will reportedly be indicted and tried on charges of
perpetrating ``hostile acts" or even ``spying" against the communist state,
which, if true, should force us to change our notions about espionage activities
and agents. What should one call spies walking across a border filming enemy
states in broad daylight?
Whatever Pyongyang aims for with the prolonged internment of seemingly hapless
victims, its acts will do more harm than good in the long run, aggravating the
already unfavorable impression of it in the international community.
Maybe all this ratcheting up of tension abroad is aimed at the domestic audience
to help smooth the third dynastic succession of power to one of Kim Jong-il's
son, as our columnist Michael Breen points out on this page. For North Korean
leadership, nothing would be more important than systemic stability, but the
brunt of the exacerbating tension should be borne ??? as always ??? by its
people.
Any eventual suspension or shutdown of the Gaeseong complex means the North will
not be able to conduct similar project with South Korean or other foreign
partners as long as for decades to come. Willingly or not, Pyongyang is biting
the hand that feeds it, the consequence of which may prove to be far larger and
longer than it is ready to accept.
Of course, the South will suffer, too, but the damage will be more political than
economic, as seen by the sheer powerlessness in breaking through the current
impasse in the cross-border relationship.
An eye-for-an-eye tactic by the reclusive regime is a lose-lose course at best
and a suicidal one at worst. The North should be more flexible in handling the
detainee issues and the sooner, the better.
(END)