NK: SANCTIONS AND DIALOGUE

SANCTIONS ON NORTH KOREA MUST BE CARRIED OUT, BUT DIALOGUE IS ALSO NEEDED

The Hankyoreh, March 9, 2013

The biggest threat of war in the 19 years since the 1994 nuclear crisis is clouding over the Korean Peninsula. From the rhetoric coming out of North Korea, it would not be overstating matters to say that the area stands poised at the brink of war.

For the past few days, North Korea has been issuing increasingly intense threats over United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2094, which imposes additional sanctions following the country's recent nuclear test, and the Key Resolve joint exercises between South Korea and the US, which are set to begin on March 11. Kim Yong-chol, who handles anti-terrorism operations and psychological warfare as head of the (North) Korean People's Army reconnaissance general bureau, started things off on March 2 with a KPA supreme command spokesperson's statement warning of the nullification of the armistice agreement and turning Seoul and Washington into seas of fire. A few hours before the UNSC resolution was adopted, the North Korean foreign ministry objected vehemently in a spokesperson's statement, saying it would be "difficult now to avoid a second Korean War" and warning that it would "exercise the right to a preemptive nuclear strike against the stronghold of the aggressors." After the resolution, the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea declared the non-aggression agreement with South Korea null and announced the severing of the communication channel between the two countries' Red Cross organizations at Panmunjom. Kim Jong-un rallied the troops with inspection visits on March 7 to the Warrior Hero Defense Unit and the Changjae Island Defense Corps, which carried out a 2010 artillery attack on South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island. It is like watching a runaway train.

(...) [article here]