Pressure is growing on Seoul to lead a breakthrough in relations with North Korea as inter-Korean ties remain chilly five years after Seoul imposed sanctions in retaliation for a deadly torpedo attack.
About 100 members of a South Korean progressive group on Sunday called for improvement in the bilateral relations, and lifting of the so-called May 24 sanctions that were imposed after the North’s attack on the South Korean corvette Cheonan in March 2010, which killed 46 sailors.
Business officials involved in cross-border trade also joined the calls, demanding a resumption of inter-Korean exchanges starting with civic-level events.
The calls were echoed by the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, which urged the Seoul government to take “bold and preemptive” steps to break the drawn-out diplomatic and military stalemate with the reclusive state.
Last week, the NPAD’s Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo and Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon hosted a debate at the National Assembly emphasizing the importance of inter-Korean business and resumption of talks.
The conservative ruling camp, on the other hand, maintained the principle that any lifting of the sanctions should be preconditioned with North Korea’s admission of the attack.
The ruling Saenuri Party stressed that the North should first take “responsible” actions including an official apology on the sinking of the Cheonan before Seoul lifts the sanctions that were imposed because of the torpedo attack.
The South Korean government, which had indicated a more flexible approach to the North earlier this month through humanitarian and civic-level assistance, faces a dilemma over the mounting calls to improve ties with the North, which remains adamant and isolated, as showcased in its abrupt cancellation of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s visit last week.
On Sunday, the communist state ratcheted up its demand for the lifting of sanctions.
Seoul countered by renewing its calls for Pyongyang to come out for dialogue to discuss a range of issues including the lifting of the sanctions that ban economic cooperation and assistance for the North.
“We have repeatedly said that should the North respond to our proposal for dialogue, we would discuss bilateral issues including the lifting of the May 24 sanctions and try to narrow our differences,” Seoul’s Unification Ministry said in a press release.
“In the process, we will strive to ensure that North Korea takes responsible measures (to deal with the sinking of the corvette).”
Hours earlier, Pyongyang denied responsibility for the sinking of the Cheonan, calling Seoul’s blame an “outright fabrication.” Proposing a joint investigation, the North said the sanctions based on the “falsified outcome” of Seoul’s probe are inappropriate.
“The South should respond to our demand to jointly investigate the sinking of the corvette if it has evidence to pinpoint North Korea as the culprit,” the North’s powerful National Defense Commission said in a statement, portraying the economic sanctions as a “byproduct of political conspiracy.”
“As the bisected ship’s body has been salvaged, the reinvestigation will be a lot easier. The NDC has its inspection team ready that will be sent for the reinvestigation.”
Seoul has refused to accept Pyongyang’s earlier proposal for the joint investigation with many arguing that it is wrong to allow “criminals” ― North Korea ― to get involved in the investigation process.
A Seoul-led multinational probe team, including experts from the U.S., Australia, Sweden and Britain, concluded that a midget North Korean submarine torpedoed the 1,200-ton vessel, breaking it into two parts. As a critical piece of evidence, the team presented part of a North Korean torpedo that was discovered near the scene of the ship’s sinking close to the tense maritime border.
By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)
