Rival parties wrangle over anti-terrorism bill

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi met in Washington on Tuesday to discuss the United Nations Security Council's planned sanctions on North Korea. China, which opposes strong sanctions that could lead the North Korean regime's collapse, is believed to have offered its final proposal that Beijing is willing to accept. The chief diplomats of the world's two greatest powers are also presumed to have discussed the proposed deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system on the Korean Peninsula and replacing the Armistice Agreement that halted the 1950-1953 Korean War with a peace agreement.

Regarding sanctions on North Korea, China is said to have agreed on banning exports of aviation oil to the North, a move that would neutralize the North's air force. China halted its aviation oil supply to the North after Pyongyang's third nuclear test three years ago, only to resume it in late 2014. However, it is unclear how much of the U.S.-proposed strong financial sanctions on the North will be accepted by China. Although the Dandong branch of the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, the largest bank in China, has recently suspended cash deposit and transfer services for accounts held by North Koreans, it is unlikely that Beijing will cut off financial sources to the North to the extent of stifling the Pyongyang regime. If China does nothing but pretending to impose sanctions on the North, Pyongyang will hold out and is unlikely to abandon its nuclear and missile development.

Drawing attention to the Chinese foreign minister's latest visit to the U.S. is the issue of the proposed replacement of the Armistice Agreement with a peace pact, which he proposed a pursuit together with the denuclearization of the peninsula. While Seoul and Washington stress the principle of "denuclearization first, peace agreement later," there are doubtful aspects to the process in which the U.S. discussed the peace agreement issue with the North before Pyongyang's fourth nuclear test. Although the U.S. Department of State denied the Wall Street Journal's report that Washington had agreed on the negotiations and gave up the precondition of the Norths denuclearization, CNN also carried a similar report, sparking speculations about a possible change in Washington's approach to Pyongyang. Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Qiu Guo-hong warned that one issue (the THAAD deployment) could destroy the Seoul-Beijing ties "in an instant."

Chung Ui-hwa, speaker of South Korea's National Assembly, put a long-stalled anti-terrorism bill to a vote Tuesday but the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea started a filibuster despite Deloitte Consulting's analysis that Seoul was the most vulnerable to cyber terrorism among Asian-Pacific countries. The parliament has also failed to pass the North Korea human rights bill. Watching the rival parties sparring over the anti-terrorism bill even at a time when world powers are determining the fate of the Korean Peninsula, we wonder if the politicians would come to senses even if this country fell.

In his contribution to the Dong-A Ilbo, Zhu Feng, head of Nanjing University's School of International Studies, wrote, "To China's eyes, it might seem that South Korea's full-fledged hardline policy toward North Korea will not last due to its domestic political division and lack of public support. If so, Seoul cannot persuade Beijing." The Chinese scholar's advice makes us blush in shame.

한기흥기자 eligius@donga.com