President Lee Myung Bak, who some had expected to use today’s Independence Day speech to deliver a message to North Korea pushing for a new page in inter-Korean relations, in the end made little mention of the issue in his televised public address.

Since North Korea is mentioned in the commemorative speech every year to some degree, many had predicted that President Lee would use it to deliver a significant message, similar to the ‘reunification tax’ which he introduced during last year’s address.

In addition, there has been the feeling that relations are on the up now that the South Korean government is allowing private organizations to send aid to the North and has agreed to provide 5 billion won in flood relief through the Korean National Red Cross. The fact that North Korea has eased off on its own tough line, as evidenced by statistically fewer denunciations of President Lee in the media, points to the same.

However, today President Lee simply called on North Korea to act responsibly and avoid further provocations so as to built mutual trust between the two Koreas, placing the remaining emphasis elsewhere.

This was not a surprise, however, since the President’s choice had been released in advance. On August 14th, a government official noted that simply, “Principled policies toward North Korea will be mentioned during the commemorative speech” but added, “there won’t be content that brings ground-breaking change in inter-Korean relations.”

“It can be understood that no special message in terms of policy toward North Korea means that the existing policy will be maintained,” the anonymous official pointed out.

This appears to partly reflect concerns that delivering a message with the potential to substantively affect inter-Korean relations while North Korea continues to resist any sincere change in attitude could have sent the wrong signal to Pyongyang.

“Zealously pushing forward and rushing can produce an adverse effect. It’s better to take actions observing the current situation with composure. Although there is the will to carry on inter-Korean talks, it should be carried forward in a careful manner,” in the words of one Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade source.

So, as of the 66th anniversary of Korean Peninsula independence, it appears that North Korea has yet to do enough to convince an administration wary of alienating the conservative base as the 2012 election approaches that there is any benefit in changing policy, at least not publicly.