The Chosun Ilbo and Joongang Ilbo weigh in as, surprise, critical of Roh and North Korea for creating the current mess, and the Joongang asks if Roh will still pursue operational control. The Dong-a Ilbo notes the now complete destruction of the “Sunshine Policy,” although I would say that happened long ago, and notes the NE Asian arms races that could easily follow, especially with a USFK withdrawal (and I will say I told ya so when it happens). The Hankyoreh editorial staff is evidently writing in from La La Land, as they are worried about, “a hindrance for Seoul’s efforts of engaging with the North,” and still think that the Six-Party Talks (the ones North Korea refuses to attend) are still the best way to resolve this issue. The Korea Herald puts some of the blame on the U.S. for taking, “little action against Pakistan, India, and allegedly Israel,” while the Korea Times notes that the U.S. won’t give into the North’s blackmail, but that, “America may be right in logic but wrong in ethics.”

Chosun Ilbo: Cool-Headed and Firm: Let It Be So

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Tuesday if North Korea were to test a nuclear bomb “and were they to proliferate this technology, obviously we’d be living in a somewhat different world.” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the U.S. would have to assess its options if the North carries out the test.

The pair in charge of U.S. foreign and security policy in the Bush administration did not go into detail but indicated that if North Korea crosses the red line drawn by the U.S. with a nuclear test…

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The short route to eliminating North Korea’s nuclear threat is for South Korea and the four powers surrounding the Korean Peninsula — the U.S., Japan, China and Russia — to speak in one voice so Pyongyang recognizes that an actual test would have very serious consequences indeed. North Korea is making such a bold threat because it did not feel the strength of international cooperation when it test-fired its missiles in July this year. The Roh Moo-hyun administration only provided excuses for the missile tests, saying they were “politically motivated” and continuing a variety of inter-Korean projects. As a result, North Korea did not budge an inch even when the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1695 with a unanimous vote in response to the missile tests.

President Roh on Wednesday ordered “cool-headed and firm measures” after the North announced its plan to conduct a nuclear test. It remains to be seen how the government will respond, but as long as there is no fundamental change in the view of North Korea from a president who once said there was “some sense” in its nuclear program, it won’t be easy to stop North Korea’s nuclear program through renewed international cooperation.

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It was sad to see a high-ranking government official on Wednesday have no more to say than that there is “no fundamental change” in the situation. On Thursday, the government is still to send 6,400 tons of cement to the North, part of 100,000 tons it promised to help it recover from flood damage as scheduled — not much of a “firm” measure. Cement, as it happens, is an essential material needed to fill up tunnels to conduct an underground nuclear test.

The Seoul-Tokyo and Seoul-Beijing summits next week will be the testing ground for solving the North Korean nuclear problems. If President Roh does not show a cool-headed and firm resolve to friendly heads of state, North Korea’s nuclear program will bring disaster not only to North Korea but also to the South as well.

Dong-a Ilbo: NK’s Nukes Crash Gov’t’s Diplomatic Policies

North Korea’s nuclear test points to the total collapse of the “Sunshine Policy” pursued by the Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun administrations. As North Korea announced its nuclear test plan after being isolated because of its firing of missiles, the U.S. and Japan are determined not to allow the test, warning that they are considering financial and trade sanctions, blocking sea paths, and even military attack. To follow the “spirit” of the Sunshine Policy, the government has the burden of supporting North Korea in the state of international isolation.

It is a big mistake if North Korea intends to follow India and Pakistan, members of the “Nuclear Club,” by announcing it owns nuclear bombs. It will instead trigger endless armament competition in the Northeast Asia region by provoking Japan to pursue a nuclear plan. China is also strongly objecting to North Korea’s nuclear arms through its unofficial response: “The policy for the Korean peninsula should be readjusted.”

A “nightmare scenario” is the possibility that the U.S. may give tacit approval of North Korea’s nuclear arms and adopt a “closure policy” to stop expansion such as technology transfer, overseas sales, and development of Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. In that case, the goal will be “it is OK if nuclear bombs do not reach the U.S.” If the scenario becomes true, we should live with North Korea’s nuclear threat on the top of our heads and watch Japan increase its armament.

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In response to North Korea’s nuclear threat, the government said, “North Korea is to blame for everything,” through a spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The ruling party also responded, “It should be resolved through talks.” We wonder what kind of measures the government has against the North Korea’s nuclear test as the Korea-U.S. “Operation Plan 5029” was discontinued. Is it going to grab the U.S. government’s arm to beg for tolerance?

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Korea’s diplomatic policy should be redirected before too late. The first step is to restore cooperation with the U.S. and Japan. It might be too late when North Korea says before long, “We will protect our brethren in South Korea with our nuclear weapons.”

Joongang Ilbo: North endangers us all

North Korea’s announcement of its plan for a nuclear test is shaking up the situation on the Korean Peninsula from its foundations. Although North Korea announced last year that it possessed nuclear weapons, announcing possession is one thing and conducting a nuclear test is another.

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North Korea is exercising a diplomacy of brinkmanship with nuclear weapons and missiles and it seems literally to be about to fall from the brink.

What is the reason for North Korea running toward this brink?

Interpretations vary from it being a means to protect North Korea from the United States’ maneuvering to collapse it by oppression, as the North Korean authority argues, to it being an extreme way to protect a system which has been reclusive and isolated to such an extent that it cannot coexist normally with the international community.

However, what’s more important than the North’s intentions is that its actions will worsen the crisis on the Korean Peninsula, and that will inevitably bring us more pain and hardship.

If North Korea proceeds with a nuclear test, South Korea has no choice but to think about possessing nuclear weapons because it would have no other way to keep itself safe from the aggression of the North. That would be the same for both Japan and Taiwan, who would be highly likely to join this trend.

This behavior would certainly lead the Northeast Asian order toward military confrontations, instead of making us pursue peaceful coexistence within the region.

Thus, North Korea’s possession of nuclear weapons would decisively make it impossible for Northeast Asia to have and keep peace. South Korea would have to take more of the burden for national security, which has already been almost unendurably heavy for us. Furthermore, Korean’s national wish for peaceful reunification would become more difficult to realize.

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The South Korean government should start taking actual measures so that its warning can not be lightly regarded as merely empty words. It should examine the possibility of temporarily stopping assistance to the North, such as the shipping of construction materials including cement, scheduled for today, for the damage that the North received from recent floods.

The government should re-examine its North Korea policy as a whole, considering the situation after North Korea carries out a nuclear test. When international society is likely to put increased pressure on North Korea, will it be possible or even reasonable to continue the sunshine policy?

Will the government pursue changes in the South Korea-U.S. alliance, including the transfer of wartime operational command of its military? How should it respond to the national security crisis that will rapidly spread? What measures should it take to sustain its economic growth, while living next to the North, the nuclear armed state? Should it go back to the fiercely confrontational situation of the past, if needed?

The government should thoroughly re-examine its policies, such as its North Korea policy, national security policy, foreign affairs policy and economic policy.

North Korea is trying to justify its position that it has chosen a nuclear test for its survival. But North Korean leaders must know that their wrong choice could threaten the survival of not only North Korea but of all Korean people and shake the basis of development of our nation.

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It is meaningless to debate whether we should embrace the North or oppose it, if North Korea really conducts a nuclear test or even when it has already announced its plan for a test. This is because North Korea’s plan for a nuclear test is like forcing us to give in to the North’s military-first policy.

Hankyoreh: In the wake of the nuclear test announcement

Two days ago, North Korea announced its plan to go ahead with a nuclear test. It is much more extreme brinkmanship than Pyongyang has tried in the past years, more a kind of “nuclear adventurism” that could easily prompt a crisis on the Korean peninsula, though some experts interpret the move as an attempt to draw more concessions from the U.S.

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Few have doubted that the North has the capacity of conducting a nuclear test. But it is a whole new situation when the North readily pursues one, since related technologies could spread to other countries. Worse yet, hard-liners, especially in the U.S., will have more say and U.N.-led sanctions could also be on the table considering there is a consensus on the nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction. All these will work as a hindrance for Seoul’s efforts of engaging with the North. Inter-Korean relations will also be cooled to a new low. The North should know that its pursuit of a nuclear test will only lead down the road to further isolation.

The international community, for its part, should remain calm. Things could get out of control if it adopts measures to push the North to the brink. After all, the North also wants diplomacy. In a statement, the North said, “We stick to the principle that we will not use nuclear weapons first.”

Particularly worrisome is the argument in the U.S. that there is no use negotiating with the communist country. Though the announcement of the proposed test was a provocative act, the six-party talks are still the best way to resolve the issue, despite heightened tensions.

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The North believes that the U.S is seeking economic sanctions as part of its hostile polices. That is the main reason why we should include measures designed to tackle the sanctions issue with a new approach. Unlike the U.S.’s insistence that its investigation into the North’s illegal activities are only part of law enforcement, suspicion is still lingering that it is part of attempt at a regime change in the communist country.

Korea Herald: Escalating nuke threat

With the announcement that it would conduct a nuclear weapons test, North Korea has taken a path that will lead that country to further isolation from the international community, more economic sanctions and perhaps, ultimately, collapse of the regime.

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In September 2005, North Korea signed a deal with the United States, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea, agreeing to abandon its nuclear weapons in exchange for energy and security guarantees. However, North Korea went back on its word, claiming that it would give up its nuclear weapons only if the United States lifted its sanctions.

The South Korean government, which prefers engagement with its neighbor to the North, now may have no choice but to terminate all exchanges. President Roh Moo-hyun, who has been calling for “self-reliance,” has few options but to remain under the U.S. nuclear umbrella. North Korea must realize that it is tying Roh’s hands with its latest threat. The agreement between South Korea and the United States to engage in a comprehensive joint approach to revive the deadlocked six-party talks reached during summit talks in Washington late last month has now lost much of its momentum.

China, which along with South Korea, holds the key to resolving the issue, should exercise its leverage vis-a-vis its communist ally. By threatening to impose economic sanctions, cut off all trade and withdraw investments, China and South Korea have the best shot at bringing North Korea back to the negotiating table.

President George Bush must realize that exercising a military option on the Korean Peninsula is near impossible. Any military action on the peninsula has the potential to destabilize the entire region and pose possibly the greatest threat to world peace in the post-Cold War era. What the United States could do is mobilize pressure from other concerned countries, including Russia.

The United States, however, is not completely blameless for the present quagmire. By taking little action against Pakistan, India, and allegedly Israel for developing nuclear weapons, and thus confirming ex facto their nuclear power status, the United States set a bad precedent.

The Roh administration, which has given as much as 3 trillion won to North Korea to keep that country engaged has been effectively stabbed in the back. It is now time for the South Korean government to reconsider its North Korea policies.

Korea Times: Perilous Provocation

Few countries can beat North Korea at spoiling neighbors’ fun. On Tuesday, Pyongyang officially vowed to conduct a nuclear test… Pyongyang should stop right there. If the communist regime puts its words into action, it will be a catastrophe for everyone.

It is all but certain the North’s announcement is aimed at jumpstarting bilateral talks with the United States that Pyongyang has long demanded and Washington has long refused. More specifically, the reclusive regime wants to remove U.S. financial sanctions before it goes back to the six-way conference table if it does so at all. It is hard, however, to accept the North’s logic that by arming itself with atomic bombs it would make the Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons. What kind of argument is this?

Most importantly, the United States will not yield to the North’s escalating brinkmanship but instead step up sanctions. Once Pyongyang joins the nuclear club, Washington might feel tempted to drop the multinational dialogue and move toward a regime change. Even South Korea would be forced to suspend economic cooperation projects in Kaesong and Mt. Kumgang. The isolationist regime would probably wither away in a confrontation between extreme brinkmanship and “malignant neglect.”

It would be reasonable to presume the North Korean leadership might have taken all this into account. But why then did it make the bombshell announcement? It is either because the authoritarian regime thought it had no other choice but to continue the nuclear chicken game or believes it has little to lose in negotiations with the U.S. by becoming a nuclear power.

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South Korea will also be a big loser. Its sovereign rating will plunge and foreign capital will leave, not to mention the psychological shock. Seoul should mobilize all the leverage it can to dissuade Pyongyang from its hopeless gamble, while encouraging Washington to show more flexibility. The U.S. administration should listen to the voices of critics, both at home and abroad, that it is like keeping the rescue rope at a certain distance from a drowning man. America may be right in logic but wrong in ethics.