[Editorial] Do You Read the Mind of North Korea?

It cannot be ignored that North Korea`s Defense Commission Chairperson Kim Jong-Il and Russia President Vladimir Putin emphasized the withdrawal of the U.S. army from Korea in the `Moscow Declaration` The South Koreans, who had heard that the North admitted the station of the U.S. army in Korea since the Inter-Korean summit last year, are confused by the North Korea-Russia Joint declaration.

According to the Declaration, the North explained that the withdrawal of the U.S. Army from the South is an urgent concern for the peace and security of the Korean peninsula and the North East Asia. And Russian expressed its understanding.

The Korean government explained, ``it means that Russia understands the position of the North, not the withdrawal of the U.S. Army.`` Cheong Wa Dae seems to impose any special meaning on the Russia-NK Joint Declaration, saying ``the outspoken language of the North is often different from its intention.``

However, the `verbal` discussion about the U.S. army in Korea at the Inter-Korean summit last year is totally different from the `written` document about the same issue at the NK-Russia summit. The Korean government has to verify the true intention of the North and to move forward with countermeasures.

In fact, the North has publicly demanded the withdrawal of the U.S. Army from Korea from time to time even after the Inter-Korean Joint Declaration. However, the government explained the NK`s demand as `to press the U.S.` or `to promote the solidarity of the North Koreans` Furthermore, President Kim emphasized at the `dialogue with the people` that the North made three concessions from its repeated demands such as the withdrawal of the U.S. army in Korea.

The government seems to approach in a naïve way to such sensitive issues related to the U.S. Army in Korean and the Inter-Korean relationship. Since 1990, North Korea expressed its position that seemed to admit the station of the U.S. army in the Korean peninsula. But that was always with some other conditions. In other words, the North would admit the station of the U.S. army in Korea only when the North and the U.S. concluded with a peace treaty or the U.S. army changes its status as neutral. The strategy ultimately aims to collapse the Korea-U.S. Alliance.

It is questionable how deeply the Korean government reads the true intention of the North to establish its North Korean policies including the issue of the U.S. Army in Korea.