A North Korea analyst with the Sejong Institute says the South Korean administration ought to keep working to strangle inflows of funding for the Kim Jong Il regime, whilst bolstering its military deterrent through the ROK-U.S. joint military exercises in the West Sea.
Oh Gyeung Seob made his suggestions in a commentary, “The UNSC Presidential Statement and SK Administration Action,” released on the Sejong Institute’s website on Monday.
In it, Oh also emphasized, “There will be no means by which to warn North Korea about its provocations and restrain it in the area around the Northern Limit Line (NLL) if South Korea and the U.S. do not carry out this joint military exercise in the West Sea.”
Also, Oh added, “There is no reason why a military exercise designed to restrain North Korean provocations would be cancelled only due to Chinese objections,” and went on, “The only thing the South needs to consider is the participation of an aircraft carrier in the exercise and its scale, so as not to irritate China unnecessarily.”
Oh also told the Seoul government to keep up the financial pressure on the North Korean regime.
“The South should pay special attention to not being dragged around according to the intentions of the North Korean regime, which has brought up the issue of resuming the Six-Party Talks in order to dodge the issue of the Cheonan incident,” he said.
Regarding proper measures the South administration should take, he said, “The South needs to focus on exhausting its funding by blocking legal and illegal sources of foreign currency for the regime.”
“With the exception of the Kaesong Industrial Complex,” he added, “the full gamut of inter-Korean economic exchanges must be suspended and sanctions against North Korea under UNSC Resolution 1718 and 1874 must be reinforced; illegal foreign currency earning channels such as arms sales must be blocked off.”
He added, “It is important to establish a mid- to long term diplomatic strategy to persuade China in terms of North Korea issues. The South must continue to persuade China that a unified Korea will be based on democracy and the free-market system, will not be a threat to China politically or militarily, and will not damage China’s national interest.”
