Seoul Split Over Nuke Test Response

The government is starkly divided over how to respond to North Korea’s nuclear test and the degree of sanctions to impose.

Although a high-ranking official of the Ministry of Unification (MOU) said that the ministry would sustain the Mount Geumgang tourism and Gaesong Industrial Complex projects in North Korea, other ministries like the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT) and the Ministry of National Defense (MND) argue that the two inter-Korean projects should be stopped or reduced in order to add pressure to the communist regime.

“The official announcement to continue the Mount Geumgang resort and Gaesong Industrial Complex projects by the MOU will upset the U.S., which is suspicious of the use of the money poured into the North thorough the two projects,” an MOFAT official said. “We should have maintained ambiguity and convinced the U.S.,” the official added.

Moreover, the MOU and other diplomacy and security related ministries have very different views over the degree of punitive actions against North Korea.

“In regard to the U.N. Security Council’s resolution against North Korea, the degree of South Korea’s measures will be at a level that would allow the participation of China,” the senior official of the MOU said Friday during a press conference.

The MOU said on Sunday that Seoul has no leverage for additional sanctions as the provision of rice and fertilizer has been halted since July in response to the North’s missile launches, sources said.

Meanwhile, a considerable number of officials from other ministries said, “Pyongyang pushed ahead with a nuclear test despite all the engagement and soft-line policies. South Korea should rather take tougher punitive measures than stated in the U.N. Security Council’s resolution to bring the North back to the dialogue table.”

The officials believe such actions will receive broad support from the international society and the U.S., and further isolate North Korea, eventually creating the atmosphere for a diplomatic settlement.

In the meantime, some officials of the MOU and MOFAT and the presidential office protested against South Korea’s formal participation in the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), whose operations include inspections and seizing of North Korea vessels, as it could cause a possible armed conflict between the two Koreas.

However, quite a few officials of the MOFAT and MND also rebuked the claim, saying, “Strict inspection and surveillance has been already carrying out on the North Korean ships passing territorial waters under the marine transportation agreement between the two Koreas. So the formal participation in the PSI will not cause any problems.”

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