hankyoreh

Kim Jong-il

President Lee Myung-bak issued what observers are considering his most forceful hardline statement to North Korea to date in an interview with a foreign journalist on Tuesday. Some are criticizing it as a virtual declaration of abandoning relations with North Korea, revealing he will no longer concern himself with his duty as the top manager of inter-Korean relations.

Lee said in an interview with Euronews TV, while on a three-nation tour of Europe, that past administrations had provided North Korea with massive financial support over the last decade, and there were suspicions that the money that was intended to open up North Korean society was used to develop nuclear weapons.

The president made public suspicions held in certain conservative quarters that the aid provided by the Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun administrations had gone to helping North Korea develop nuclear weapons. This latest statement was more aggressive than the one he made in a March 30 interview with the Financial Times, where he said that despite a lot of aid over the last decade, North Korea possesses nuclear weapons.

When asked how he evaluated North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, Lee responded negatively, calling him the leader of the world’s most closed society. In so doing, he added that while other countries were developing through opening up and cooperating with the international community, he did not understand why it remains completely closed.

Lee made clear his intention to drag North Korea back to talks by actively applying pressure through international cooperation on United Nations sanctions. He stressed that if China and Russia provide steady support, North Korea could be called back to the table.

Cheong Wa Dae vice spokesperson Kim Eun-Hye moved to quiet the waters in the wake of the president’s remarks by saying Lee’s statement represented no change in the tenor of existing North Korea policy maintained so far. She said in light of Lee’s statement regarding how bringing North Korea back to the negotiating table regarding denuclearization would be difficult but not impossible, he was maintaining his approach towards a flexible North Korea policy.

Some analysts are pointing out the manner in which Lee has revealed the administration’s inner intention to discontinue inter-Korean projects in which money flows to North Korea, including the Mt. Kumgang tourist project. Hankyoreh Peace Research Institute head Kim Yeon-cheol said that in making an official statement about previous administrations over-giving to North Korea, Lee had issued the worst of all North Korea-related statements made thus far. Democratic Party lawmaker Park Ji-won said if North Korea used the humanitarian aid and commercial base deals under Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun to underwrite nuclear development, how does one explain its nuclear development and missile launches in 1994 under Kim Young-sam.

There is also criticism that directly making statements that could provoke North Korea’s top leader, who could at any time become a dialogue partner, was inappropriate. A former high-ranking official who handles security matters said Lee’s statement was nothing more than this administration confirming in words what it has already been showing in action, namely, its tenor of ignoring inter-Korean relations. He said it was frustrating that the president, the country’s top-decision maker, would make a statement he had not fine-tuned with his advisors.

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