hankyoreh

Oct. 8.

By Park Byong-su, staff reporter

North Korea seems to have set aside its attempts to engage in dialogue and to be shifting into confrontation mode.

After the stand-off that lasted from March to May, Pyongyang changed its approach and tried talks from June through September. But once it failed to gain any ground through the talks, it appears to be turning once again to the strategy of increasing tension.

On Oct. 8, the General Staff Department of the North Korean military issued a statement in the name of its spokesperson. In the statement, North Korea instructed its military to be ready to be mobilized for operations.

“If the US government truly wants the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and is really interested in the safety and peace of the region, it is not North Korea but the US that must make the decision to move first,” the statement said. This is North Korea’s first military mobilization order since March 26 when the Supreme Commander of the People’s Army announced an order to move into Combat Readiness Posture number 1.

While adopting an attitude of military confrontation, Pyongyang also indicated that it remains very interested in dialogue with the US.

Prior to this, North Korea brought to bear the National Defense Commission, the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, and the state-run paper the Rodong Shinmun to harshly criticize South Korean President Park Geun-hye and the South Korean government for four consecutive days, through Oct. 7.

In the series of statements, Pyongyang pulled no punches as it mentioned Park by name, likened the current South Korean government to the Yushin dictatorship, and addressed allegations that South Korea’s National Intelligence Service interfered in last December’s presidential election.

North Korea’s scathing criticism can be seen as conveying its disappointment and anger at the attitude the South has shown during the dialogue phase that started in June.

“The majority of inter-Korean agreements this year, including the minister-level talks, the reopening of the Kaesong Complex, and the reunions of the divided families, were made possible by North Korea yielding unilaterally,” said Paik Hak-soon, senior researcher at the Sejong Institute.

“In fact, the decision to hold the minister-level talks in Seoul, the agreement to reopen and internationalize the Kaesong Complex, the reunions of divided families, and the delay of talks about Mt. Keumgang all resulted from concessions by North Korea.”

And yet the Park administration has bragged about the results of inter-Korean dialogue as if Park’s adherence to principle or her so-called trust-building process for the Korean peninsula had been effective.

Despite the fact that the internationalization of the Kaesong Complex and the reunions of divided families were predicated on concessions from North Korea, the South Korean government arbitrarily delayed the timing of talks about resuming tours to Mt. Keumgang on two occasions.

Significantly, North Korea views tourism as a key industry for its economic development.

This is illustrated by the interest that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has shown in the construction of the ski resort at Masik Pass and the message delivered by Park Sang-kwon, president of Pyeonghwa Motors, who visited North Korea in July and August.

According to Park, North Korea has plans to develop not only Mt. Keumgang but also the environs of three other mountains - Wonsan, Baekdusan, and Chilbosan - as special economic zones.

But the Blue House responded to this roundabout offer by North Korea by bluntly stating that it had no intention of resuming tours even to Mt. Keumgang in the immediate future.

North Korea also failed to improve relations with the US over the past four months. Pyongyang’s foreign ministry released a statement on Jun. 15 proposing direct talks with the US, but the US responded coolly to this.

The US reconfirmed its position that North Korea must abide by the already signed Feb. 29 agreement and the Sept. 19 joint statement, and it said that the North must take action to eliminate its nuclear program before talks can take place.

It appears likely that the international situation related to North Korea will enter a phase of tension and confrontation for the time being.

With South Korea and the US not showing any willingness to improve relations with North Korea, it is likely that the North decided that words were not enough to bring about an improvement in its ties with Seoul and Washington.

When Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has worked to bring about dialogue between North Korea and the US, met with Park Geun-hye on Oct. 7, he said, “I am opposed to North Korea possessing nuclear weapons or conducting more nuclear tests.”

“This seems to show that Xi is concerned that North Korea might use a nuclear test as a means of breaking out of the current impasse,” said Jeong Se-hyeon, president of Wonkwang University and former unification minister, when asked about Xi’s remarks.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]