hankyoreh

Professor Hansik Park of University of Georgia, who visited Pyongyang from July 11 to 15, said in the telephone interview with The Hankyoreh on August 3 (U.S. time) that the North Koreans are “counting days until the U.S. attack.”

Professor Park, the director of Center For The Study Of Global Issues(Globis) had hosted the “Washington-Pyongyang Track II Forum” to discuss the North Korean nuclear issue, inviting high-ranking officials from North Korea and the U.S. in 2003. He is preparing another gathering, the “Three-Way Track II Forum,” with participants from North Korea, South Korea, and the U.S.

Q: As a person who has been [to North Korea], how would you describe the atmosphere there?

A: The North Korean officials I met were thinking that it is a matter of time for the U.S. to attack. They believe that the George Bush administration has not changed its stance and will overthrow the North Korean regime as it did with the Taliban and Hussein regimes. They told me that they are making all defensive preparations for the attack and are spiritually gearing themselves up for an honorable death like the Arabs did in the Middle East. A media report that said North Korea is preparing for the second Korean War was a misinterpretation of the real intention in the column in the Atlantic Journal- Constitution published on [August 1]: the real intention was to emphasize the importance of a diplomatic solution.

North Korea is especially hostile toward Japan. Although North Korea made concessions on the Japanese abductee issue in the Pyongyang Joint Declaration, Japan took a series of actions that was enough to upset the North Korea - Prime Minister Koizumi repeatedly brought up the abductee issue, Japan led the United Nations Security Council resolution after the missile launch, and Japan brought up the possibility of preemptive attack. [The North Koreans] also expressed their discontent with South Korea who denied humanitarian food support. It seems difficult to expect any progress in the inter-Korean relationship for a while.

Q: What do you think is the reason North Korea went ahead with the missile launch?

A: I am sure they had in mind a bilateral meeting with the U.S. Since their [last test] launch in 1998, they have put in so much effort toward this launch, but it failed even more miserably. I think, however, it ended up for the good of Pyongyang - it proved that North Korea is not capable of shooting targets inside the U.S. It took away an excuse for the U.S. to raise their military spending.

Q: But the Bush administration still sees North Koran missiles as a security threat.

A: The U.S. thinks that to keep threatening North Korea serves its own interest. Strengthening the “missile defense system” in partnership with Japan is a good example. Basically, the U.S. is trying to keep China in check. The U.S. is trying to create a ‘buffer,’ using Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.

Q: The Bush administration keeps rejecting North Korea’s proposal for direct talks.

A: Direct talks with North Korea will signal to the global community that the U.S. has acknowledged North Korea, the ‘evil,’ as a negotiation partner - this would be hard for the U.S. to accept. North Korea also will not bargain on issues of security and economy; this is making North Korea to hesitate to come out to the six-party talk.

Q: Isn’t the situation getting worse?

A: As long as their security is threatened, North Korea will never give up their nukes. The U.S. has no intention to resolve the North Korean nuke problem. The U.S. is thinking that it will allow North Korea keep their nukes and stop them from handing the nukes over to terrorists or transferring them somewhere else. It may sound paradoxical, but South Korea must help ease the North Korea-U.S. relationship, and North Korea must help ease the South Korea-U.S. relationship. South Korea should persuade the U.S. to acknowledge the Jong-Il Kim regime and come to bilateral talks. North Korea should not aggravate the situation, for example, by launching missiles, so that the South Korea-U.S. relationship will remain intact.