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Korea
FT demonstrates continued inability to Comprehend Concept of Seige
2004-01-20
Roh Moo-hyun, the South Korean president, had soothing words for his political supporters this week when they discussed the imminent withdrawal of all 7,000 US soldiers from the capital, Seoul. South Korea, he said, had done its best in negotiations with the US military and there was "nothing to worry about".
"Nope. Nope. Nothin' to worry about. Huh huh!"
Mr Roh may be right about the militarily prudent repositioning of US troops guarding South Korea against attack from the North. However, on almost every other issue concerning the North Korean dictatorship and its nuclear weapons programmes there is plenty of cause for concern. In contrast to the good news from south Asia, where nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan have agreed to talk peace, and from north Africa, where Libya has renounced weapons of mass destruction, there has been no recent progress in resolving the dangerous stand-off in north-east Asia. In fact, the crisis has deepened for North Korea. South Korea, which should be pushing for a new round of six-party talks over North Korea, is in confusion over foreign policy and its attitude to Washington. Yoon Young-kwan, the foreign minister, resigned last week after ministry officials accused Mr Roh’s advisers of anti-Americanism. Ban Ki-moon, his replacement, repaired only some of the damage by promising there would be no change in Seoul’s attitude towards the US.
Why would it be a good idea to sit down for six-party talks when one of the most important parties is in the midst of political unrest?
There was even a confused reaction to the deal on closing the US garrison in Seoul. After years of vociferous complaints about the American soldiers in their midst, some South Koreans are having second thoughts, just as Filipinos did when the US closed its military bases in the Philippines in the 1990s.
In the long run its better for us and better for them - just like kicking your unemployed 19 year-old out of the house.
Pyongyang, meanwhile, continues to threaten the world and demand foreign aid in exchange for an unverifiable promise to freeze its unverified weapons. Worse, it has deliberately covered its tracks by hiding fuel rods that could be reprocessed to make weapons-grade plutonium. These were previously kept under international inspection at the Yongbyon plant. US experts who visited Yongbyon this month on a private trip are due to brief the US Senate today but have already said the pond where the rods were once kept is empty. The status of a separate uranium enrichment project - its existence condemned by the US and denied by North Korea - is a mystery.
The rods haven’t gone far.
It is thus difficult to be optimistic, even if Beijing is still trying as hard as it claims to convene the next round of talks involving North and South Korea, the US, China, Japan and Russia.
Sounds like the Chinese are feeling the pressure.
Kim Jong-il, the North Korean leader, is probably delighted to see confusion in Seoul and divisions among those who want him to abandon nuclear weapons. This makes it all the more vital that North Korea be given no chance to exploit these splits as it has in the past. Nor should it be given indefinite time to develop new weapons while its people go hungry in the harsh Korean winter.
I suggest that the writer of this article never engage in poker for money. If there are splits within our coalition, now is not the time to come to the table. What new weapons are they going to invent, the crossbow?
Posted by:Super Hose

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