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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| US increasing pressure on North Korea |
| 2006-01-25 |
| South Korea's president on Wednesday warned Washington against pressuring North Korea to force the totalitarian regime's collapse, apparently rebuffing U.S. demands that Seoul move against Pyongyang's alleged illegal financial activities. Meanwhile, the North reiterated Wednesday that it will stay away from international negotiations on its nuclear programs until recently imposed U.S. sanctions over the illegal activities are lifted. Appearing at his annual New Year's news conference, President Roh Moo-hyun avoided directly answering whether the South believes the North is engaged in counterfeiting, money laundering and drug trafficking, as Washington alleges. He said the matter required review and consideration of how measures are "related to efforts to resolve the nuclear issue and if that involves any intention to pressure North Korea's regime." But Roh said coercive steps were not the way to resolve the latest dispute over the North's nuclear ambitions, which erupted in late 2002 after U.S. officials accused Pyongyang of running a secret uranium enrichment program. "I don't agree to some opinions inside the U.S. that appear to be wanting to take issue with North Korea's regime, apply pressure and sometimes wishing for its collapse," he said. "If the U.S. government tries to resolve the problem that way, there will be friction and disagreement between South Korea and the U.S." He added that there's no such friction yet because the opinions don't reflect current U.S. policy. Despite that, tensions between the South and Washington were laid bare when South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that it hadn't been asked by a visiting U.S. Treasury Department delegation to take action to prevent illegal financial activity by the North. The U.S. officials were on a trip through the region to present evidence of their claims against Pyongyang, and a statement from the U.S. Embassy on Tuesday said they had urged the South to strengthen controls to prevent proliferation of weapons of mass destruction by financially isolating those who seek to do so and their support networks. "The U.S. Treasury Department team did mention the need for general cooperation ... but didn't urge our government to take specific actions, either officially or unofficially," the South Korean Foreign Ministry said. The ministry said the embassy's press release on the visit "overstates some of what was discussed between the two sides and does not correctly reflect" the discussion. But U.S. Embassy spokesman Robert Ogburn said "we still stand by our press release," declining to give details of what exact measures were discussed. Washington has rebuffed Pyongyang's demands for lifting the sanctions to resume six-nation nuclear talks, saying the measures are unrelated to the weapons issue. On Wednesday, the North repeated its demand. "If the U.S. truly wants the resumption of the six-party talks and their progress, it had better opt for lifting its financial sanctions against (North Korea) and coexisting with it," the North's official Korean Central News Agency said in a commentary. The nuclear talks have failed to make any progress since September on implementing an agreement where the North pledged to abandon its atomic programs in exchange for security guarantees and aid. Seoul been noncommittal on whether it shares a U.S. belief that the North engaged in illicit activities, apparently out of concern it could affect a resolution of the nuclear crisis. In September, the United States slapped sanctions on a bank in the Chinese territory of Macau, alleging it helped the North distribute counterfeit currency and engage in other illicit activities. Washington also has sanctioned North Korean companies it claimed were fronts for proliferating weapons of mass destruction. North Korea, which had used the Macau bank for decades as a main channel for outside funds, called the sanctions a "sheer lie" and evidence of U.S. hostility against the communist regime. Wary of Pyongyang's anger, South Korea also hasn't committed itself to the Proliferation Security Initiative, which involves maritime drills to stop and search ships suspected of carrying nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, materials to make them, or missiles to deliver them. But the South said Tuesday it will provide "possible cooperation" with the effort, such as sending delegates to observe exercises and including weapons of mass destruction interdiction drills in regular military exercises with the U.S. South Korea made clear that it was not considering participation in PSI drills or providing logistical support. About a dozen PSI drills have been held since the program was launched in 2003 with 11 countries. Since then, five other countries have actively participated, while 60 more expressed support of its goals. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #4 The SKors have to make a choice: Either they enable the regime or they work to change it. They are enabling the blackmail game by Kimmie. If they do not help out the regime, then Kimmie throws a tantrum and rattles his sabres. Make no mistake, the stakes are high for SKor. The Norks can make life unbearable in an hour for Seoul with a massive artillery barrage. In an ideal world, we would be working with SKor to make plans for massive aid once the Nork regime falls. If the SKors want appeasement, then they will have to finance their defense. We have major committments and we do not need to throw away precious military assets for people that do not hold up their end of the deal. If we go into Iran, I would not be suprised to see Kimmie doing some active infiltration or attacks also. He will think it a great opportunity. We need to be ready for that one. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2006-01-25 14:49 |
| #3 The Koreans understand perfectly that Seoul is the first target Kim would launch a nuke missile at if things get too tight, so they play this cagy game of "America bashing" and "standing up" to America. At the same time, they also know that their continued independence and prosperity is directly linked to American military protection. They have one of the strongest, most capable militaries in Asia, but it's no match for the Chinese, who would probably intervene on behalf of N. Korea. What you end up with is clandestine support for US actions, but nothing open or direct. S. Korea also saw the difficulties Germany had with the East, and know that it would cost them trillions of dollars to rebuild N. Korea, if the north DID collapse. That prospect is almost as scarey to the South as a war, and would be about as costly. Hence you get crap like this. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2006-01-25 14:48 |
| #2 Huh? |
| Posted by: Crease Slolung3988 2006-01-25 11:27 |
| #1 You know, this is exactly why we couldn't help those little bastards during the war, they won't fight for themselves. |
| Posted by: Tholuth Thairt7420 2006-01-25 09:17 |