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Groton Daily Independent
Saturday, July 29, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 029 ~ 25 of 67
it clear it isn’t giving up on the hopes for talks just yet. But Moon also said the North’s latest launch has the potential to “fundamentally change” regional security dynamics and stressed the need for “strong and realistic measures” that could sting Pyongyang and repel its nuclear ambitions.
Moon has criticized the hard-line policies under a decade of conservative rule in Seoul, which he says did nothing to prevent the North’s progress in nuclear weapons and missiles and only reduced Seoul’s voice in international efforts to deal with its rival.
But some South Korean analysts believe Moon might end up in the same policy rut as his predecessor, Park Geun-hye, who initially vowed to show more exibility in dealing with North Korea before it conducted two nuclear tests and began what has become a torrent of weapons tests in 2016. South Korea doesn’t have many options for dealing with North Korea under ruler Kim Jong Un, who seems to have little inter- est in meaningful talks with Seoul before he reaches his desired goals in nuclear weapons and missiles, the experts say.
Moon made his most ambitious proposals for engagement in the aftermath of North Korea’s rst ICBM test on July 4. He reaf rmed his commitment to dialogue in a speech in Berlin days after the launch and then came back to Seoul to propose military and Red Cross talks between the rivals to reduce animosities across their border and resume temporary reunions of aging relative separated by the 1950-53 Korean War. But the North spent the past weeks ridiculing Moon’s comments and ignoring his talk proposals before conducting its second ICBM test Friday night.
“North Korea works with its own timetable that is dictated by its plans for nuclear weapons and missile development, and won’t be in uenced by any South Korean offer for talks or strengthening of sanctions,” said Park Hyung-joong, a senior researcher at Seoul’s Korea Institute for National Uni cation.
Koh from Dongguk University expressed a similar view, saying that the ICBM tests clearly show that North Korea sees the current situation as a matter between Pyongyang and Washington, and not solv- able at the inter-Korean level. He said it would be a mistake to continue seeing North Korea’s missile tests as demonstrations aimed at wresting diplomatic concessions when the country is pursuing a real nuclear deterrent against the United States.
“Talks will be dif cult. North Korea has yet to respond to the South’s proposals and the South can’t be seen begging for talks,” Koh said. “The ball is now with the Trump administration and the situation will be determined by the options it takes ... All South Korea can do now is to conduct its own military drills to show force and strengthen its defense, such as implementing THAAD.”
Washington and Seoul originally planned to complete the deployment of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system by the end of the year. But after taking of ce in May, Moon had pushed back the deadline by introducing stricter environmental reviews on the site to ease the concerns of locals, who express fear over rumored health hazards linked to the system’s radar. During the campaign, Moon had said that Seoul should reconsider the THAAD deployment because it has angered China, South Korea’s biggest trade partner, which sees the system as a security threat.
A THAAD battery consists of six launchers and currently two launchers are operational in rural Seongju. Moon’s of ce said Saturday that the environmental reviews will go on as planned even after the four ad- ditional launchers are placed.
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Follow Kim Tong-hyung at www.twitter.com/@KimTongHyung
North Korea says 2nd ICBM test puts ‘entire’ US in range By ERIC TALMADGE and MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Saturday the second ight test of an intercontinental ballistic missile demonstrated his country can hit the U.S. mainland, hours after the launch left analysts concluding that a wide swath of the United States, including Los Angeles and Chicago, is now in range of North Korean weapons.
The Korean Central News Agency said that Kim expressed “great satisfaction” after the Hwasong-14