[USFK Forums] South Korea warns of friction with US over North Korea

[C. Y. Lee]

Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Thursday, January 26, 2006

South Korea warns of friction with US over North Korea

Wed Jan 25, 3:57 AM ET

Seoul (AFP) - South Korea warned the United States of trouble ahead in bilateral ties after an angry dispute broke out between Seoul and Washington over sanctions against North Korea.

South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun said that friction could develop between the two allies over moves by Washington hawks to put pressure on North Korea.

At the same time the foreign ministry here accused Washington of misleading the public about talks between the two sides earlier this week in Seoul on sanctions imposed by Washington on North Korea.

"There are no differences with the United States," South Korea's progressive leader Roh told a press conference.

"But the South Korean government does not agree with some forces in the United States that raise issues about North Korea's regime, put pressure on it and apparently desire to see its collapse."

"If the US government tries to resolve problems through this kind of method, there will be friction, differences of opinion, between South Korea and the United States."

The president was addressing an annual Lunar New Year press conference just after the foreign ministry said Washington had issued an "improper" statement about South Korea-US talks earlier in the week.

A US statement released on Tuesday said US Treasury officials visiting South Korea had urged Seoul to take steps against North Korea's alleged illicit financial activities and also to join US-led efforts aimed at combating weapons proliferation by rogue states including North Korea.

The US team "has neither officially nor unofficially urged our government to take specific steps," said South Korean foreign ministry spokesman Choo Kyu-Ho. The US side stood by the statement released by the US embassy. "We stand by the press release issued yesterday and we have nothing further to add," said embassy spokesman Robert Ogburn.

The Treasury officials visited Seoul in an effort to convince skeptical South Korean officials that North Korea was guilty of counterfeiting US currency and money-laundering.

In September last year the US Treasury Department imposed financial sanctions on North Korea for allegedly using a Macau bank, Banco Delta Asia, as a front for counterfeiting and other illicit financial activities. The South Korean government has maintained that it needed to see evidence before taking steps against Pyongyang.

President Roh declined to say whether the visiting US officials had successfully made their case."It is too early for me to comment on the alleged illegal activities by North Korea," Roh said. "We need to ascertain the full truth regarding whether the North has committed any illicit activity, whether it is related to the North Korean nuclear dispute and whether there are any intentions to press the North Korean regime."

North Korea attended the fifth round of six-party talks on the nuclear standoff in November but says it will stay away from the talks until Washington lifts the sanctions imposed last year.

The United States has rejected the demand and says that steps taken against financial crimes are unrelated to the nuclear dispute. Relations between Seoul and Washington have often been tense under Roh, elected on a wave of anti-Americanism in December 2002 after he vowed never to kowtow to the United States.

Roh said in his press conference that outstanding issues between the long-time allies would be resolved through negotiations. He identified one issue that needed to be addressed, the command of South Korea's military during times of war. Currently South Korean forces come under the command of the US military command at such times and Roh wants Seoul to retain charge.



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[mike]

I think this sentence is telling:

"But the South Korean government does not agree with some forces in the United States that raise issues about North Korea's regime, put pressure on it and apparently desire to see its collapse."

This tells you exactly what the South Korean government is thinking. Let's break the sentence down.

But the South Korean government does not agree with some forces in the United States that raise issues about North Korea's regime

So, don't say anything bad about the North Korean regime because we don't want to anger them. President Roh is a pure carrot and no stick man. He is today's Neville Chamberlaine and trying to secure peace for our lifetime.

put pressure on it

Yes, we will have 6 party talks in 2020 if he had his way. Forget about trying to pressure the South Koreans into actually starving millions each year. Let's just wait until the Koreans are ready. The people with empty stomachs and working in the prison camps have plenty of time.

and apparently desire to see its collapse

To the South Korean government, this is their biggest concern. They do not wish to see regime collapse and 20 million North Koreans flooding Seoul. Since 1950, the standard of living difference between North Korea and South Korea has increased too significantly.

The worse thing the North Korean regime could do to South Korea is not war. It is to allow a 5 million North Koreans to flood south (like Fidel did with Miami). The South Korean economy would collapse and the government would be forcde to house and feed all of them.

So, it is in the interest of the South Korean government to keep the starving, dying North Koreans in the North were they can't destabilize the South Korean economy much like East Germans did to West Germany.

The South Korean government loves to talk about no war were millions of Koreans would die. As long as the millions of Koreans dying are North Koreans, he is ok with that.

Mike