YONHAP NEWS

NORTH KOREA THIS WEEK NO. 483 (January 17, 2008)

   *** TOPIC OF THE WEEK

North Korea Keeps Mum on Election of Lee Myung-bak

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- Even though nearly a month has passed since conservative Lee Myung-bak won South Korea's presidential election on Dec. 19, North Korea has yet to issue any official reaction.

   It is a rare silence because Pyongyang usually reports the result of the South's presidential election, along with a short comment, two or three days after it takes place. But observers said the North will keep mum for the time being while watching developments surrounding the Korean Peninsula as well as U.S. moves toward the communist country.

   Elected on the ticket of the major opposition Grand National Party (GNP), the president-elect has supported his party's tough policy toward North Korea. The GNP has been opposed to Seoul's engagement policy toward Pyongyang for the past 10 years. A pragmatic conservative, Lee has repeatedly demanded North Korea give up its nuclear weapons program as a prerequisite for aid and cross-border economic cooperation.

   Under the situation, Lee Myung-bak said in his New Year's news conference on Jan. 14 that his incoming government will engage in full inter-Korean cooperation if Pyongyang faithfully implements the agreement reached at six-party talks. Lee also stressed the need to bolster ties with the United States, saying, "Closer ties between South Korea and the U.S. will be helpful to North Korea."
President-elect Lee, who takes office on Feb. 25, also said he is willing to hold summit talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. "Leaders of the two Koreas can meet anytime if it would be helpful to the denuclearization of North Korea. But the next summit has to take place in Seoul," said Lee in the news conference.

   Outgoing President Roh Moo-hyun and Kim held the second-ever inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang last October and adopted a 10-point joint declaration calling for closer inter-Korean economic cooperation. In the first inter-Korean summit between Roh's predecessor, Kim Dae-jung, and Kim Jong-il in the North Korean capital in 2000, the North Korean leader pledged to make a return visit to Seoul at an appropriate time, but has yet to keep the promise.

   Asked if his incoming administration is willing to abide by the agreements signed by Roh and Kim, Lee vowed to conduct a thorough review of the accords. "October's inter-Korean summit agreements were those sealed in principle and lacking in details. My new government will study the implementation of the agreements from the perspective of feasibility, fiscal burdens on the people and the national consensus," said Lee.

   However, North Korea placed emphasis on the implementation of the summit agreements. In its joint editorial for the New Year issued on Jan. 1, the North expressed hope for economic cooperation with South Korea in various fields, as agreed upon in the accords. It also vowed to strengthen its military power by maintaining its "songun" (military-first) politics and urged the United States to abandon its "hostile" policies.

   The editorial stressed the need for implementing the Oct. 4 Declaration issued by the South and North Korean leaders last year, and reiterated the North's call for replacing the armistice agreement that ended the 1950-53 Korean War with a peace accord.

   It said the declaration for the development of North-South relations and peace and prosperity is an "inspiring banner that propels the independent development and reunification of the nation and an action program for applying the June 15 joint declaration to practice an all-round way."
At the summit last year, the two sides agreed on a series of South Korean-backed business projects in almost all industrial sectors, including establishment of a "peace zone" in the area near the West Sea. The Koreas have held over 20 rounds of working-level talks to implement the summit accords, resulting in about 190 agreements related to economic cooperation programs.

   But the North's editorial did not mention that Pyongyang missed a Dec. 31 deadline for it to complete its promised disablement of its main nuclear facilities and give a full accounting of its nuclear programs.

   Under an October deal with South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia, North Korea was supposed to have disabled its key nuclear facilities at Yongbyon and disclosed a complete list of its nuclear programs by Dec. 31 in return for the equivalent of 1 million tons of fuel oil. North Korea was also supposed to fully account for an alleged uranium enrichment program to be eligible for additional energy aid and political incentives.

   The North's failure to meet the deadline has caused concern among its negotiating partners. Pyongyang claimed it submitted a full list of its nuclear programs in November but Washington denied the claim, calling for a "complete and accurate" account by the North.

   North Korea insists that it will not give up what it calls its nuclear program for self-defense until the U.S. has taken measures to end Pyongyang's international isolation and guarantee its security. It wants Washington to provide aid, remove it from the U.S. list of countries sponsoring terrorism and establish diplomatic relations with the North.

   In a series of six-party accords adopted in 2005 and reinforced in 2007, North Korea agreed to disarm in exchange for economic rewards and better ties with Washington and Tokyo. In an initial denuclearization step, the North closed down its only functioning 5-megawatt nuclear reactor in July.

   In an apparent show of uneasiness over the incoming conservative government in South Korea, the joint editorial said, "Pro-U.S. sycophancy and treachery of turning the back on the trend of the times towards reunification and hindering the reconciliation and unity of the nation should not be tolerated."
The South's president-elect said, "With the inauguration of a new government in South Korea, the two Koreas must build practical cooperation. But the most important thing is mutual trust." He said If North Korea faithfully honors the six-party agreement, inter-Korean relations will be advance smoothly.

   "The Koreas have to further improve ties with neighboring countries in order to upgrade inter-Korean relations. South Korea's closer relations with the U.S., in particular, would be helpful to North Korea. Advancement of South Korea-U.S. and inter-Korean relations will lead to an improved relationship between the U.S. and North Korea," Lee asserted.

   Lee said his government would make sustained efforts to redefine the South Korea-U.S. relationship in a future-oriented way. He also called for the improvement of practical cooperation with Japan, China and Russia, saying relations with them are critical to the future of South Korea.

  A former Hyundai CEO has insisted on the need to take a tough stance on North Korea and bolster ties with South Korea's closest ally, the U.S. His position has triggered concern that his stress on closer ties with Washington could damage inter-Korean ties.

   A North Korea watcher said Lee appears to be trying to convey a pragmatic message that stronger ties with Washington will not lead to a blockade of the North, but to cooperation between South Korea and the U.S. to help North Korea get support from the international community.

   However, some experts were pessimistic about Lee's position, saying it will only be effective when the denuclearization process goes well and strengthened ties with Washington do not necessarily mean improved inter-Korean and North Korea-U.S. relations.

   Kim Geun-sik, a professor at Kyungnam University, said Lee used the speech to emphasize closer ties between South Korea and the U.S. "If we only call for an alliance with Washington when there is a deadlock in the nuclear crisis, inter-Korean ties will ultimately be sacrificed," he said.

   "The president-elect appeared to give little thought to the seriousness of the nuclear crisis that faces a long-term deadlock," said Kim Yeon-cheol, a professor of Korea University's Asia Research Center. He predicted that South Korea's role in the six-party talks will be reduced and inter-Korean ties will suffer a setback if Seoul supports the U.S. position on the nuclear issue and calls for a stronger alliance with the country under the current situation.

  (END)