North Korea claims South Korean military exercises with US endanger diplomacy

Military exercises involving the US and South Korea have long been a source of increased tensions with North Korea. Nevertheless, the US is preparing to hold a new round of the exercises with the South.

The North Korean's see US actions as putting diplomacy at risk

The North Korean Foreign Ministry sees the joint exercises of the US and South Korea as placing future diplomacy on denuclearization of the peninsula at risk. The Ministry claims that US actions are directly opposed to their stated demands for a diplomatic settlement of issues. The strong North Korean reaction to the exercises is in spite of the fact that the exercises have been scaled down as reported on the appended video. This apparently was done so as to avoid any negative results for negotiations.

US actions may lead to the North resuming its testing

The North notes it has made its own gestures to support talks but the response of the US has not been reciprocal. The resumption of the military exercises could lead to the North reconsidering its own moves to support talks.

As a recent article notes: "Earlier, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Washington’s pattern of “unilaterally reneging on its commitments” was leading Pyongyang to reconsider its own commitments to discontinue tests of nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles.“Our discontinuation of the nuclear and ICBM tests and the U.S. suspension of joint military exercises are, to all its intents and purposes, commitments made to improve bilateral relations. They are not a legal document inscribed on a paper,” it said. In another statement carried by the state news agency KCNA, a foreign ministry spokesman accused Washington and Seoul of pressing ahead with the Dong Maeng military drills this summer, and called them a “rehearsal of war.”"

Some of the exercises appear to be mock invasions of the North.

The North Koreans could very well go back to intercontinental missile and nuclear tests and the situation would be back to where it was before talks even began.

A recent article sums up the reaction of the North: "North Korea says it is rethinking whether to abide by its moratorium on nuclear and missile tests and other steps aimed at improving ties with the US. The statement blames upcoming regular US-South Korean military drills."

The North Korea threat may be meant to deter the joint exercises

It is not clear that the North really needs that much more testing. The threat to resume the testing may be meant to try and get the US to at least postpone the exercises before new diplomatic talks between Kim Jong-un and President Trump.

Previously published in the Digital Journal

After North Korean officials visit South high level talks set to resume

After senior North Korean officials made a surprise visit to South Korea to attend the closing ceremonies of the Asian Games, Hwang Pyong-so, regarded as the second most powerful person in the North, met with South Korea's Reunification Minister.Reports from South Korea now claim that the two sides have agreed to resume high level talks that had been suspended since last February followed by increased tensions between the two countries.
 In the North, Kim Jong-un appears to have serious health problems, and is suffering from gout. The disease runs in the family and is exacerbated by eating rich foods. The chubby North Korean leader is said to be "addicted" to Swiss Emmental cheese. Recent video footage has shown Kim walking with a limp but he has not appeared in public since Sept.3. He was not at a recent meeting of the parliament. A source told Yonhap news: "Kim Jong-un is suffering from gout, which is why he is limping on both legs. I understand that he is suffering from gout along with hyperuricemia, hyperlipidemia, obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure."
 A think-tank based in Seoul South Korea North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity (NKIS) suggests that Kim Yo-jong, Kim Jong-un's younger sister, could be leading the country during the illness of her brother. A source told NKIS that the Political Bureau of the ruling party decided to give Kim extended medical treatment at a recent meeting. They also decided that officials should carry out Kim's previous orders and that both the party and army should be on war time alert while Kim is unable to perform his duties due to his medical condition. Finally, the party decided that important matters of government administration should be reported to Kim Yo-jong to allow Kim to concentrate on improving his health. One senior North Korean official has denied that Kim has any health problem.
 The first official mention of Yo-jong was March 9 this year as she accompanied Kim Jong-un as they voted for the Supreme People's Assembly. She was described then as a senior official of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. The head of NKIS Kim Heung-gwang claims: “Some say Hwang Byong-so, director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People’s Army, may have assumed new No. 2 status, but given what has been confirmed this time, we can say Hwang is just a shadow, and Kim Yo-jong is the second-in-command of North Korea,”
 Whoever is in charge, North Korea seems to be making moves to improve relations with the South. So Se Pyong, the North Korean ambassador to the UN, said on Friday that the North was also ready to resume talks on its nuclear program and that there were no plans for any missile or nuclear tests.

North and South Korea to hold high level talks

At least one part of the world seems to be calming down a little and working towards a peaceful resolution of issues. North and South Korea are still technically at war and have been for over 50 years. No doubt North Korea misses the aid provided by the south in terms of fertilizer and rice and also fuel oil.


North, South Korea agree to high-level talks
Last Updated: Thursday, February 15, 2007 | 5:18 AM ET
The Associated Press
The two Koreas agreed to resume stalled high-level talks later this month in Pyongyang, officials said Thursday, amid signs of easing tensions on the divided peninsula after the North signed a breakthrough disarmament agreement.

The cabinet-level talks — the highest dialogue channel between the two Koreas — will be held in the North's capital from Feb. 27 to March 2. The talks had been suspended for seven months amid chilled relations following North Korea's missile launches in July and nuclear test in October.

South Korea's Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung said Thursday's meeting between lower-level officials in North Korea's border city of Kaesong "would serve as an opportunity for South-North relations and dialogue to develop to a new level for peace on the Korean Peninsula."

North Korea's chief delegate Maeng Kyong Il told the meeting that "there should not be repeated vicious cycles of North-South relations frequently breaking down," according to pool reports by South Korean journalists.

South Korean delegate Lee Kwan-se told reporters in Kaesong that the two sides agreed that the cabinet-level talks should resume "as early as possible. We had a consensus that South-North relations should be restored promptly," he said.

Cabinet-level talks — which usually serve as a forum for discussion of Seoul's aid to the impoverished North — could lead to a resumption of the regular delivery of rice and fertilizer to the Communist nation. South Korea suspended its aid after the July missile tests.

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Agreement reached in six-nation talks
The move to restart the talks comes after the nuclear agreement, reached Tuesday among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.

The disarmament pact requires North Korea to seal its main nuclear reactor, allow international inspectors and begin accounting for other nuclear programs within 60 days. Within that time, more talks are planned on ending the hostilities between North Korea and the U.S. and Japan.

In return, North Korea will receive 45,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil, a modest down payment on a promised 900,000 tonnes in oil or aid of a similar value if it ultimately disarms. The promised oil is more than two-thirds of North Korea's entire oil consumption in 2004, according to the CIA Factbook.

The aid package is worth about $250 million US at current prices.

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and U.S. President George W. Bush agreed during a telephone conversation that "they were now at a starting point to kick-start the process of resolving the North Korea nuclear issue," Roh's office said in a statement Thursday.

The two leaders also "stressed that each country should sincerely implement" the nuclear deal, according to the statement.

South Korea's Foreign Minister Song Min-soon had similar telephone discussions with his U.S. and Chinese counterparts, and planned to talk with the Japanese and Russian foreign ministers, the Foreign Ministry said.

Both Roh and Song are on a European tour.

While the nuclear agreement marks a turnabout for the North, it still potentially faces years of trouble-filled negotiations.

No timetable was set for North Korea — which has a history of backpedalling on agreements — to declare all of its nuclear programs and ultimately dismantle them.

The two Koreas remain technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a ceasefire, but their relations have warmed significantly since the one-and-only summit between their leaders in 2000.

© The Canadian Press, 2007