[Editorial] Blameworthy North Korea

It is noteworthy that with the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit talks at China ahead, the U.S. President George W. Bush gave a robust warning expressing a strong suspicion toward the current direction of North Korea. When he suggested a NK-US dialog in June, he made a statement expecting some achievements even under the skeptic atmosphere. However, the mood is flowing differently at this moment.

President Bush said, ``It was disappointing that Chairman of the North Korea`s National Defense Commission Kim Jong-Il has been too suspicious and surreptitious leaving the urgent crisis untouched. Chairman Kim is a doubtful figure who keeps refusing to carry out the promise with the South Korean government as well as the agreement with the U.S. government.`` Demanding the NK government to express the clear sign to support the peace in the Korean peninsular by withdrawing the military forces concentrated on the armistice line, President Bush warned not to heedlessly launch the military action taking advantage of the war at Afghanistan.

It is not even necessary to say why President Bush expressed such a distrust and a warning against the NK`s plausibly miscarried military action. During the past nine months under the Bush administration, the relationship between the U.S. and North Korea did not mark any sign of progress, but rather the distrust and the conflict have been deepened between two countries.

The aggravation of the US-NK relation has partially drawn from the lack of more positive and more comprehensive NK policy of the Bush administration. However, the fundamental cause lies in North Korea side. Why does not NK more positively utilize the chance of dialog suggested by the U.S. government? Why has NK taken such a closed attitude by suspending the inter-Korea talks and criticizing only the U.S.`s position? Why did NK blow out the best chance to wipe out a stigma called as a terrorist state by declaring the anti-terrorism policy? Although there might be a difficult situation within North Korea, the current North`s attitudes are not desirable.

And the government has stressed the importance of the cooperative relation between Korea and the U.S. for parallel pursuit of the inter-Korea talks and the NK-US talks, but it turned out fruitless. Neither the inter-Korea talks nor the NK-US talks have been pursued appropriately. President Bush`s remarks hinted at that there has remained still the difference of perspectives on North Korea between Korean and the U.S. since the Bush administration began. Nothing could be achieved because of the government`s lukewarm attitude only conscious of the assertions and demands of the North Korean side. President Kim Dae-Jung said in an interview with the USA Today that the NK`s sudden stoppage of the exchange of the separated families was surprising. However, how many times has North Korea violated a promise like that? The government should pursue the NK policy more properly considering the actual result brought by the sunshine policy.