President of the Committee for the Democratization of North Korea Hwang Jang Yop harbors serious doubts regarding international sanctions over North Korea to cope with the second North Korean nuclear test. “Sanctions are not useful at all,” he said, “We should let them be and neglect them even if they conduct ten more tests.”
In a seminar for students in Seoul on the 28th, President Hwang stated, “If international society clamors to block North Korean nuclear testing with sanctions, it only raises the stakes in negotiations. However, if the Kim Jong Il regime conducts many tests, it will drive the regime to disaster.”
Analyzing the second test, he said, “It is merely to threaten the U.S. to make it negotiate directly with North Korea and to raise Kim Jong Il’s prestige.”
He emphasized, “Kim Jong Il knows very well that using the nuclear weapons [in reality] would mean his demise, so he will never do it. Therefore, the international community does not need to raise a storm by placing sanctions which they cannot subsequently enforce, and should just use tactics of neglect.”
He pointed out, “Although China says outwardly, ‘North Korea will not listen to our persuasion,’ China is using the situation to raise its own value as a moderator. China will never tell North Korea to give up the nuclear weapons directly and, even if China says something, Kim Jong Il knows it is just diplomatic rhetoric.”
However, he added, “If China could be persuaded to cut its alliance with North Korea, North Korea would go to ruin. Frequent North Korean nuclear tests will cause China’s strong dissension, and if they continue to conduct tests that China does not wish to see, China might eventually turn its back on North Korea.”
Therefore, “Isolating North Korea with China-friendly policies is the most important thing. From the administration’s perspective, it should only pretend to respect North Korea while keeping its distance from and neglecting it. Additionally, the administration should leave criticism of North Korea to the NGOs.”
