South Korea announced Monday that it will not take any new steps to punish North Korea for its nuclear test such as fully participating in the U.S.-led nonproliferation initiative, claiming that Seoul already has stronger measures in place against the communist neighbor than those of any other country.
But South Korea said it plans to link its future inter-Korean relations with progress in the six-way talks on the North's nuclear arms program.
"The South Korean government supports the purpose and principles of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), and will adjust the scope of our participation at our discretion," Deputy Foreign Minister Park In-kook told reporters. He is in charge of drawing up the South's measures under the United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing arms and financial sanctions on North Korea.
Park said South Korea will continue to consider the country's unique geopolitical situation in terms of its PSI-related activity in the vicinity of the Korean Peninsula, which is divided into the two Koreas that are technically at war.
He said an inter-Korean maritime agreement on sea cargo, signed in 2004, can be used to check the North's suspicious shipments passing through the South's territorial waters.
The two Koreas struck the deal, officially named "The Agreement on Inter-Korean Maritime Transportation," which mandates that vessels from both countries cannot carry any weapons or related materials through each other's waters.
Seoul's decision came in defiance of a continued U.S. request to join its efforts to curb the trade of weapons of massive destruction and related materials by North Korea and other "rogue" states.
When asked what the differences in Seoul's position on the PSI before and after the North's nuclear weapon test were, Park said that its PSI role outside the Northeast Asian region will be determined with some flexibility, leaving the door open for the possibility of Seoul participating in non-regional PSI activities.
He called it a "special status."
Such an ambiguous position is attributable to Seoul's unique relationship with Pyongyang, according to Park. But many experts said it may not be the best decision available.
Seo Jae-jin, a researcher at the state-run Korea Institute for National Unification, said Seoul could have joined the U.S.-led initiative without risking any strong backlash from the North.
"According to the operation manuals of the PSI, (South Korea) could have formally joined the initiative and chosen not to actively participate" in cases that could lead to confrontation with the North, Seo told Yonhap News Agency.
Yoo Ho-yeol, a North Korea studies professor at Seoul's Korea University, agreed, claiming the United States would begin to think Seoul cannot be counted on as a strong ally.
"The United States is unlikely to express official disappointment (toward South Korea), but it will at least believe the South Korean government is uncooperative, regardless of what the government says," Yoo said.
The professor also claimed that Seoul's decision may give North Korea the mistaken impression that South Korea can be threatened into action or inaction.
"North Korea would not raise any issue (about Seoul's position on the PSI) officially, but I think the North would believe they can move South Korea around as they please," he said.
Monday's announcement also included a list of South Korea's steps to implement the U.N. resolution, but it did not include any new measures.
Park was holding a joint press conference with Lee Kwan-sei, head of the Unification Ministry's public relations office, to brief reporters on the contents of the report to be submitted to the U.N. sanctions committee to monitor the implementation of the resolution.
Lee stressed that South Korea will maintain various measures, regardless of the U.N. resolution, against the North taken after its missile launches in July.
"The government has suspended 80 percent of the total volume of inter-Korean economic cooperation since the missile tests in July," Lee said.
He said that inter-Korean trade since July could have totaled about US$450 million without the missile tests, through various inter-Korean projects led by civilians and the government alike.
It means the North lost roughly US$ 360 million due to its missile activity.
"It is a stronger measure than any other countries have taken so far," he said.
South Korea's decision to maintain its "kid-glove" approach is understood to reflect Pyongyang's agreement to return to the six-way talks, which also involve the U.S., China, Russia and Japan, experts said.
The negotiations are set to restart, probably in the middle of next month, after a year-long hiatus.
The chief nuclear envoys from South Korea, the U.S., and Japan plan to meet in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi on Wednesday on the occasion of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit to discuss ways of making progress in the talks.
"Making progress in the talks is the most important factor," a senior Foreign Ministry official said, asking not to be named. He denied some media speculation that the Republican's defeat in last week's mid-term elections also affected the decision.
"It is going too far to say that we decide our policy on North Korea in consideration of the U.S. election results," Although Seoul's decision to stay away from the PSI may mollify the North, it is likely to vex hard-line officials in Washington.
South Korea has come under growing pressure to get tougher on the North, meaning it is caught between its desire to improve inter-Korean ties and the need to maintain a coordinated approach with Washington on the nuclear issue.
Since President Roh Moo-hyun, who advocates less U.S. influence on South Korea, took office in 2003, the alliance between the two sides has been seen as increasingly troubled.
Seoul, Nov. 13 (Yonhap News)
Seoul decides to stay away from PSI ahead of nuclear talks |
