The Marmot’s Hole

The Japanese were particularly harsh, calling for severe sanctions that would bar North Korean ships and planes from traveling outside the country, ban the import of North Korean goods and place an international travel ban on high-ranking North Korean officials.

If I were a betting man, I’d place my money on some form of sanctions regime being placed on North Korea—at this point, it’s hard to imagine the Security Council failing to agree to punish North Korea in some way. But I don’t see China (or Russia) agreeing to an invasive and/or potentially destabilizing sanctions regime. Sure, there will be lots of verbal condemnation of North Korea, but it will be mixed with exhortations to keep a cool head and not back North Korea into a corner.

Perhaps more interesting was the discussion he had with ex-presidents Chun Doo-hwan, Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung. Or the discussions said three presidents had between themselves. The two Kims, in particular, apparently ripped into each other—Kim YS called on Roh not only to officially declare the Sunshine Policy dead and buried and terminate several intra-Korean projects (Kaesong, Kumgangsan, etc.), but also to publicly apologize to the people for pursuing the policy. Kim DJ, of course, defended his baby, saying it had developed intra-Korean relations as it was supposed to and produced results. The lack of progress, said the Nobel Peace Prize winner, was due to poor relations between Pyongyang and Washington (to get a feel for DJ’s view of the world, click here).

DJ further expounded on what Roh should do. He suggested three options: war, sanctions and direct talks between North Korea and the United States. War was unthinkable, and at any rate, the United States didn’t have the resources to fight one at the moment, he said. Sanctions were also problematic—they might hurt North Korea, he said, but Pyongyang might retaliate with provocations at the DMZ or NLL. If they were to do so, it would lead to the Korean economy contracting and foreign investors pulling out en masse. Finally, concerning direct talks between Pyongyang and Washington, he noted that even in the United States, the Democratic Party and former Secretary of State James Baker were calling for such talks.

He then said a real funny, namely, that prior to the nuclear test, South Korea had actively led efforts to stop North Korea from testing a nuclear device (room erupts into hysterical laughter), but that after the test, things would be led at the UN or between the four great powers (the United States, China, Japan and Russia), so there was no need for Seoul to take the lead in sanctions.

Strangely enough, it was left to Chun Doo-hwan—yes, the Butcher of Gwangju—to play the role of “mood maker,” and according to the PRESSian account, he was by far the most gracious geezer in the room. He was very respectful to President Roh, and tried his best to get the two Kims to play nice by changing conversation topics. As far as his advice went, he counseled Roh to work on strengthening the Korea-U.S. alliance and postpone—for a good while—moves to reassume wartime operation command from USFK.

Prior to addressing the National Assembly, however, Lee was harangued by GNP lawmaker Kim Yong-kap, the man Oranckay once referred to as “John Birch Society Korea Branch posterboy.” Kim called Lee and his boss “people who have substantively helped North Korea’s nuclear development.” He then demanded that prior to issuing his report to parliament, Lee should apologize for failing to stop North Korea from conducting a nuclear test. Kim added that if he were Lee, he would have “jumped in the Han River.”

Yes, he actually said that. To Lee’s face. During a parliamentary session.

The piece (by left-wing Internet newspaper PRESSian) also cites several Uri Party lawmakers as saying that despite the nuclear test, engagement and economic exchanges must go on. This is something we should probably watch as we discuss enforcing sanctions on North Korea.

Oh, more on Kim Yong-kap being Kim Yong-kap here.