U.S. hard-liners to blame for North’s test: former S.K. president

Kim Dae-jung defends engagement policy with North

Former president Kim Dae-jung on October 11 criticized U.S. policy as being responsible for North Korea’s nuclear test, and urged Washington to hold direct talks with the communist nation.

During a lecture titled, "The realities of the Korean Peninsula and the Four Powers," which Kim gave at Chonnam National University, he said, "North Korea’s nuclear test, its withdrawal from the Non-Proliferation Treaty, its driving out of International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors, and its breach of the 1994 Agreed Framework have proven that U.S. policies against North Korea’s nuclear programs have failed."

"Since 1994, we stressed a package resolution and the Clinton administration positively accepted this. In consequence, our plan almost bore fruit. The George W. Bush administration, however, has ignored this and the result is today’s failure," added Kim.

Kim’s remarks refer to the Bush administration’s hard-line policies, which have refused bilateral talks with North Korea.

Kim emphasized that "North Korea and the U.S. should solve the problem through dialogue," adding that in order to do so, "the U.S. should appoint an official to coordinate North Korean policies as soon as possible. To maliciously ignore the fact that North Korea has nuclear weapons and to continue economic sanctions will result in the North’s provocation," he warned.

Kim also refuted conservatives who cite the engagement policy toward the North as the culprit for the current situation, and demand abandonment or change of the policy.

Kim, while talking with President Roh Moo-hyun on the telephoneon on the morning of October 11, said, "Why is the engagement policy toward the North wrong? The Sunshine Policy didn’t fail and the engagement policy toward the North is even more necessary."

After the lecture, Kim told reporters, "When did North Korea say that it developed nuclear weapons because of the Sunshine Policy? Inter-Korean relations have developed due to the engagement policy, not worsened."

"The nuclear test cannot be tolerated. North Korea should abandon its nuclear weapons and demand the U.S. to hold bilateral talks in return," Kim said.