South Korea to urge North Korea to take responsible attitude before dialogue: official

Photo File : Vice Unification Minister Um Jong-sik

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SEOUL, Jan. 5 (KATAKAMI / Yonhap) -- South Korea will stick to its current policy on North Korea, seeking to get the communist neighbor to understand it should respect Seoul and take a responsible attitude if it wants dialogue, a senior official said Wednesday.

"We should try to get North Korea to change in a desirable way and take a sincere and responsible attitude so that fair South-North relations can be formed," Vice Unification Minister Um Jong-sik said in a radio interview. "The door for dialogue is always open, but (the North) should respect its dialogue counterpart."

North Korea has made a series of dialogue overtures after sharply escalating tensions with a deadly artillery strike on a South Korean island in November. In its New Year's message, Pyongyang stressed the importance of improved relations and dialogue with South Korea. (*)

U.S. envoy holds talks with S. Korean negotiator over N. Korea

Stephen Bosworth (L), the U.S. special envoy for North Korea policy, holds talks with South Korea's chief nuclear envoy Wi Sung-lac in Seoul on Jan. 5. (Yonhap)

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SEOUL, Jan. 5 (KATAKAMI / Yonhap) -- The U.S. special envoy on North Korea met with South Korea's chief nuclear negotiator Wednesday for discussions expected to focus on how best to use the option of dialogue to get Pyongyang to cease provocations and give up nuclear programs.


Talk of restarting the long-stalled nuclear disarmament negotiations with the North has gained traction as the U.S. prepares for a summit with China, which has strongly called for dialogue to reduce tensions, and as Pyongyang has shown a growing willingness to talk.


Stephen Bosworth, Washington's special representative for North Korea policy, called for "serious negotiations" as a central strategy to deal with the communist nation, as he arrived in South Korea on Tuesday for talks with Seoul's main nuclear envoy, Wi Sung-lac.


"We believe that serious negotiations must be at the heart of any strategy for dealing with North Korea, and we look forward to being able to launch those at a reasonably early time," Bosworth told reporters at Incheon International Airport.


On Wednesday, Bosworth held talks with Wi. Though details were not immediately available, their discussions were expected to include the conditions that the North must meet before resuming the nuclear talks, such as halting its nuclear development and allowing international nuclear monitors back into the country.


Bosworth later met with Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan, saying at the start of the meeting that he hopes South Koreans are "impressed and reassured by the very close coordination of policy that we've been undertaking over the last several months."


Bosworth is scheduled to meet with Unification Minister Hyun In-taek later in the day.


His trip to the region, which will also take him to China and Japan, comes ahead of a summit between U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao set for Jan. 19 in Washington where North Korea is expected to be a key topic.


China has called for restarting the six-party nuclear talks to curb tensions that were heightened after North Korea's deadly shelling of South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island in November and the revelations that it has a uranium enrichment facility for a suspected new atomic weapons program.


North Korea has also been signaling a growing willingness to resume negotiations.


In its New Year's message issued Saturday, Pyongyang stressed the importance of improved relations and dialogue with South Korea and said that it wants to achieve peace in the region and make the Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons.


South Korea and the U.S. have urged Pyongyang to first demonstrate through action its commitment to give up nuclear programs and improve relations with Seoul if it wants to reopen the nuclear talks, a stance that reflects deep skepticism about a regime that has abused negotiations to only get concessions.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Philip Crowley reiterated the demand.


"We do want to see specific things from North Korea, including a reduction of tension between North and South, an end to provocations and a seriousness of purpose with respect to" a 2005 disarmament-for-aid deal, he said. "We have to be assured that dialogue would be constructive. We don't just want to have talks for talks' sake."


The six-party talks have been deadlocked since the last session in December 2008 due to a North Korean boycott. The talks bring together the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the U.S.  (*)

South Korea's president calls island attack an opportunity for change

A man watches a broadcast of South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak's New Year policy address in Seoul on Monday.

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January 3, 2011 (KATAKAMI / CNN) -- South Korea's president said Monday the country should respond to the attack on Yeonpyeong Island the same way the United States reacted to the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York -- by using the event as an opportunity to reflect on security and overhaul the country's defenses.


Speaking during his New Year's address, President Lee Myung-bak called the November attack a turning point and warned North Korea that any future "provocations" would be met with "stern, strong responses."


"The shelling of Yeonpyeong Island ... served as an opportunity for us to reflect on our security readiness and overhaul our defense posture," he said. "Peace cannot be obtained without a price."
Tensions have been running high between North and South Korea ever since the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan last March, killing 46 sailors.


Full coverage of the Koreas' conflict




South Korea and the international community blamed the North for the sinking, but Pyongyang has denied the accusations.


Last month, North Korea said the South's navy fired into Northern waters and, in retaliation, it shelled Yeonpyeong Island, killing four South Koreans.


"We cannot let North Korea covet even an inch of our territory. Any provocation that would pose a threat to our lives and property will not be tolerated," said Lee.


Over the weekend, officials in North Korea called for better ties with South Korea, according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency. North Korea urged dialogue and cooperation in 2011 and asked the South to end its military exercises.


South Korea's president said in his televised address that North Korea needs to work toward peace with deeds as well as with words.


"I remind the North that the path toward peace is yet open. The door for dialogue is still open. If the North exhibits sincerity, we have both the will and the plan to drastically enhance economic cooperation together with the international community," he said.


The U.S. special envoy for North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, is expected to travel to South Korea, China and Japan this week to discuss next steps on the Korean Peninsula. His first stop is Seoul. (*)

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak says door for inter-Korean dialogue still open

Jan. 1, SEOUL, South Korea -- President Lee Myung-bak gives a New Year's message at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on Jan. 1. (Yonhap)

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SEOUL, Jan. 3 (KATAKAMI / Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said Monday that the door for inter-Korean dialogue remains open but North Korea should first show its seriousness about the talks.

"I remind the North that the path toward peace is yet open. The door for dialogue is still open," Lee said in his New Year's address broadcast live.  (*)

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak delivers New Year's message

Jan. 1, SEOUL, South Korea -- President Lee Myung-bak gives a New Year's message at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on Jan. 1. (Yonhap)

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SEOUL, Jan. 1 (KATAKAMI / Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak expressed confidence Saturday that South Korea will bring peace to the peninsula and attain further economic development in the new year.


"In the new year of 2011, I am confident that we will be able to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula and continue sustained economic growth," Lee said in his New Year's message. "I believe in the potential of the Korean people who always come together and turn crises into opportunities."


He said the country's fortunes are on an upswing in the international community.


He pointed out that South Korea achieved 5-percent economic growth, the highest among OECD member countries, in 2010 and became the world's seventh largest exporting nation. 

South Korea also successfully hosted the G-20 economic summit and forged free trade agreements with the European Union and the United States, he said.


"Even though our land is small, our economic territory has become the largest in the world," he said. "Korea has now emerged as a hub of free trade."


The president said those achievements can be ascribed to the painstaking efforts by all Korean people.


"We should not let the chance to increase our national fortunes slip away. We must not hesitate to leap over the threshold to become an advanced country," he said.  (*)




MS 

South Korean Prime Minister leaves for trip to South America

South Korea's Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik Photo : REUTERS/Jo Yong-Hak

SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korean Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik left for Brazil's capital city of Brasilia on Thursday to attend the inauguration of the South American nation's new president.

Kim will represent South Korea at Dilma Rousseff's inauguration on New Year's Day. He will also meet with Brazilian officials to promote efforts by South Korean companies to win a bid for the construction of a high-speed railway in the country.  (*)

South Korea Again Describes North Korea as 'Enemy'

South Korean protesters burn a placard showing the defaced portraits of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il (L) and his youngest son and successor-in-waiting Kim Jong-un (R) during an anti-North Korea rally in Seoul, 28 Dec 2010

December 29, 2010 (KATAKAMI / VOA) ---North Korea is again the "enemy" of South Korea, a designation that has not been used for six years.

The designation is given to the North in South Korea's latest defense white paper. But the document does not revive the designation of the communist state as the "main enemy." The paper also delves into details about North Korea's military capabilities.

The deputy defense minister for policy, Chang Kwang-il, explains why the label is again being applied.

Chang says this is to inform the South Korean public of the reality of North Korea and it sends a strong warning to Pyongyang.

The government, however, refrained from calling Pyongyang its "main enemy", a designation used in the 1990s.
The defense ministry review, released on Thursday, details North Korea's military capabilities. It says the North has deployed large artillery guns and new, more powerful tanks near the border with the South. It also has added new elite forces trained to infiltrate the South and disrupt critical facilities.

The document says North Korea's plans to rely on its nuclear weapons, its long-range artillery, submarines, cyber-warfare and special forces to counter the South's high-technology military.

The deputy defense minister says since the last assessment, in 2008, North Korea has added 20,000 special forces troops.

Chang estimates North Korea now has 200,000 special forces soldiers, installed in light infantry units and placed on the front lines.

The report says North Korea's total force remains unchanged at 1,190,000 troops.

By comparison, South Korea has an active-duty force of 650,000. About 28,000 American troops are also stationed in the country.

The updated assessment of North Korea's military comes at the end of a year that saw tensions on the peninsula rise to their highest level in decades.

North Korea is blamed for the sinking of a South Korean navy ship in the Yellow Sea, in March. Pyongyang denies responsibility for the incident, in which 46 sailors died.

In November, North Korea shelled a South Korean island in the same waters, killing four people.

The two Koreas fought a devastating three-year war to a stalemate in the early 1950's. A truce, but no peace treaty, has been in place since then.  (*)

South Korea's Lee says talks the answer to nuclear crisis

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak (C) encourages army soldiers during his visit to a military observation post of the front-line unit in the demilitarized zone in Yanggu, far northeast of Seoul, December 23, 2010. REUTERS/Blue House/Handout

December 29, 2010 SEOUL (KATAKAMI / Reuters) – South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who has vowed a tough stance against any further attack by North Korea, said on Wednesday the nuclear crisis must be tackled by negotiation.

Lee also called for fresh dialogue between the rival Koreas, saying a hardline military policy alone by Seoul, while offering an effective deterrent, will not ease the tension.

Stalled talks by six countries, which the North walked out of two years ago, were the only available forum to end the North's nuclear program in return for economic aid and diplomatic recognition, Lee said at a policy briefing by the Foreign Ministry.

"I think removal of the North Korea nuclear programs should be achieved through six-party talks next year as North Korea targets 2012 for its achievement of a power country," he said.

North Korea attacked the southern island of Yeonpyeong on Nov 23, killing four people. It was also blamed by the United States and South Korea for sinking a South Korean naval vessel in March, killing 46 sailors.

Like the United States, South Korea has signaled that it is loath to restart the diplomatic process -- also involving China, Japan, and Russia -- unless its reclusive neighbor shows steps toward completely dismantling its nuclear program.

China, the North's main ally and economic backer, has called for a restart of the six-party talks without preconditions.

Lee said South Korea, however, must not let down its military guard against the North.

"Ensuring peace on the Korea peninsula is an important task going forward but this can't be done with diplomacy only. I think we need strong defense capabilities and unity among the people should be achieved as prerequisites."

But he made a fresh call for dialogue between the rivals, saying: "There must be efforts also to try to establish peace through dialogue between the South and the North."

Lee has come under pressure over a perceived weak response to the Yeonpyeong attack that raised tension on the peninsula to the highest level since the 1950-53 Korean War.

Lee last week vowed "a merciless counterattack" against any fresh North Korean assaults as the South Korean army held rare large-scale military drills near the border in a demonstration of military might.  (*)

North Korean special forces dressed in South Korean uniforms

South Korean soldiers in conventional woodland pattern uniforms. (Yonhap file photo)

SEOUL, Dec. 28 (KATAKAMI / Yonhap) -- Some of North Korean special forces stationed at the border with South Korea have dressed up in military uniforms with the same camouflage pattern as South Korean soldiers' uniforms, a military source here said Tuesday.

The North's tactic, confirmed by the South's military for the first time this year, is believed to be intended to effectively confuse South Korean troops as the special forces have held drills to hone their ability to infiltrate the South, the source said on condition of anonymity.
"It was confirmed, for the first time this year, that North Korean troops at the front-line land border are wearing uniforms with the same woodland camouflage pattern (as South Korean troops)," the source said.

"Our judgment is that the North's special forces stationed there are staging drills for intrusion by wearing the uniforms."

South Korea's military has been developing a new combat uniform with digital camouflage since 2008. It has already been supplied to the South's special warfare forces and will be distributed from next July to other troops.

The South's military is now considering distributing the new uniform earlier than scheduled, in line with the North's move, the source said.

The North is believed to have some 200,000 special forces, an 11 percent increase from two years earlier, according to data by the South's defense ministry. Of them, the North is believed to have completed deployment of some 50,000 troops along the border with the South.

The North's bolstering of its special warfare capabilities means that the country intends to send such troops deep into South Korea to conduct a variety of attacks in case of conflicts, defense ministry officials said.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have remained acute following a series of military aggressions by the North, including the torpedo attack on a South Korean warship in March and the Nov. 23 shelling on a border island.

The bombardment on Yeonpyeong Island near the Yellow Sea border killed two South Korean marines and two civilians, marking the first attack on a civilian area in the South's territory since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.  (*)

President Lee Myung-bak orders swift military reform to tackle N. Korea's provocation

FILE : South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, center, arrives with Defense Minister Kim Tae-young, second right, at the Joint Chiefs of Staff as the military was put on top alert after North Korea's artillery attack on South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2010. (AP Photo/Yonhap)

SEOUL, Dec. 28 (KATAKAMI / Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak called Tuesday for "quick and bold" military reform, saying public misgivings about South Korea's defense posture have deepened throughout this year.

Presiding over a weekly Cabinet meeting, this year's last session, Lee said the country's 6.1 percent economic growth and falling youth jobless rates in 2010 have been overshadowed by security loopholes laid bare by a series of North Korean attacks.  (*)

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates due in Seoul on N. Korean provocations: Pentagon

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates

WASHINGTON, Dec. 27 (KATAKAMI / Yonhap) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will visit South Korea next month to discuss enhancing the alliance with South Korea, the Pentagon said Monday.

Gates will meet with South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin while in Seoul on Jan. 14, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said, adding they will discuss ways to "address the threats posed by North Korean provocations and its nuclear and missile programs."

The chief U.S. defense official will also travel to Beijing and Tokyo, Morrell said.

The visit comes amid rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula after North Korea's shelling of a South Korean island last month that killed four people in the first attack on South Korean soil targeting civilians since the end of the 1950-1953 Korean War.

North Korea had backed away from its earlier threat to retaliate to a series of military drills South Korea conducted independently and jointly with the U.S. in recent weeks in a show of force against further provocations.

The South Korean military, however, still remains on high alert.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who traveled to Pyongyang earlier this month to help ease tensions, meanwhile, had briefed the State Department on his trip to North Korea, the department said.

Deputy spokesman Mark Toner, however, dismissed Richardson's trip as a private mission.

"Governor Richardson had called Deputy Secretary James Steinberg on Dec. 23," Toner said in a conference call with reporters. "U.S. citizens are free to travel to North Korea in a private capacity. It's not for us to give approval."

Richardson, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in New York, returned from a week-long trip to North Korea last week amid rising tensions after North Korea's shelling of Yeonpyeong Island and a series of military drills by South Korea in a show of force against further provocations.

The North has proposed a series of rapprochement measures to the troubleshooter.

Among them are the return of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors, negotiations for the sale of 12,000 spent nuclear fuel rods and the establishment of a military commission consisting of representatives from the two Koreas and the U.S., and an inter-Korean military hotline to prevent conflicts in the disputed western sea border.

North Korea expelled IAEA monitors early last year in the wake of U.N. Security Council sanctions for a rocket launch seen as a long-range missile test. Months later, Pyongyang detonated its second nuclear device after one in 2006, drawing harsher U.N. sanctions.

Reports said Seoul and Washington have been discussing ways to revive the six-party talks on North Korea's denuclearization, which have been deadlocked over last month's shelling and the sinking of a South Korean warship in March.

The return of the international nuclear monitors is one of the preconditions Seoul and its allies have set for the reopening of the nuclear talks, involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia.

"Governor Richardson was kind enough to call Deputy Secretary Steinberg and offer his perspective on the trip and what he found out there," Toner said. "He brings a great deal of knowledge and we value his perspective. We value his perspective and his insights. Our policy remains the same, but obviously we welcome the input of individuals, private American citizens, with his level of expertise and knowledge."
Washington will continue to consult Beijing, North Korea's biggest benefactor, to resolve issues related to North Korea, he said.

"It has a unique relationship with North Korea," Toner said. "We're going to continue to work with China to urge North Korea to live up to its commitments, refrain from provocative actions and to act responsibly."
Richardson told CNN last week that now is the time for the U.S. to re-engage North Korea if Pyongyang refrains from reacting militarily to South Korea's military drills.

Seoul and Washington have dismissed the gestures as part of the North's traditional brinkmanship, urging Pyongyang instead to apologize for shelling Yeonpyeong and sinking the Cheonan before returning to the six-party nuclear talks.

South Korea and the U.S. also want the North first to take concrete steps toward denuclearization.

China and Russia want the nuclear talks to reopen as soon as possible unconditionally.

North Korea last month revealed a uranium enrichment plant that it claims is producing fuel for power generation. Concerns persist that the facility could produce highly enriched uranium for nuclear weapons.

North Korea will be among the topics at the summit between U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao here on Jan. 19, U.S. officials have said, although Washington does not want the rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula to dominate the agenda. (*)

South Korea must unite to survive, says President Lee Myung-bak

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak

December 27, 2010 (KATAKAMI / BBC) --- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has told his nation it must unite in the face of military aggression from the North.

Mr Lee said in a national radio address that what was at stake was "the survival of this nation".
He added: "If [we] are afraid of war, we can never prevent war."
 
The Korean peninsula has been tense since the North shelled the Southern island of Yeonpyeong last month, killing four people.

On Sunday, it was announced that South Korean and Chinese defence ministers would meet in Beijing in February amid the rising tension.

'Sacred war'

In his broadcast on Monday, Mr Lee said: "We can't afford to have division of you against me in the face of national security, because what's at stake is our very lives and the survival of this nation."

Mr Lee said divisions of opinion after the North's alleged sinking of a Southern warship in March with the loss of 46 sailors had led to the North's attack on Yeonpyeong island.

He said: "It is when we show solidarity as one that the North dares not challenge us. Their will to challenge breaks."

South Korea has carried out a number of recent exercises

Mr Lee added: "We have clearly realised the fact that only strong counteractions to military provocations are able to deter war and safeguard peace."

His government came in for some criticism at home as weak after the Yeonpyeong attack.

Mr Lee said he had learned "valuable lessons".

Since the incident the South has replaced its defence minister and embarked on a series of military exercises while ratcheting up its rhetoric.

The North has not retaliated militarily but amid the rising tension last week vowed a "sacred war".
Pyongyang denies the South's claim that it sank the warship. It also says its shelling of the island was retaliation for a South Korean firing drill that dropped shells into North Korean territory.

At the end of his speech, Mr Lee said the South still wanted peaceful reunification with the North.

On Sunday, defence officials said that South Korea's Defence Minister Kim Kwan-jin and his Chinese counterpart Liang Guanglie were organising talks in the Chinese capital in February, but added that details of the meeting agenda would be discussed later. (*)

South Korea Concludes Artillery Drill, Scrambles Jet Fighters

Dec. 20, SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korean F-15K fighter jets were in the air on standby in case of North Korean provocations as South Korea began a live-fire artillery drill near the Yellow Sea border with North Korea on Dec. 20. This is a file photo taken in December 2008. (Photo : Yonhap)

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December 20, 2010 (KATAKAMI / VOA) --- South Koreans are anxiously waiting to see if North Korea will make good on its threat to take military action in response to an artillery drill on Yeonpyeong island.

The exercise came just hours after an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council failed to ease tensions, and after an American politician said North Korea is willing to accept nuclear inspections.

South Korea defied diplomatic pressure and went ahead Monday with firing artillery into the Yellow Sea for 94 minutes, escalating its confrontation with the communist North.

Defense officials stress the shelling was to the southwest, away from North Korea. But North Korea claims that area is its territory and, in the days since the drill was announced, has warned it could lead to war.

In Seoul, Foreign Ministry spokesman Kim Young-sun termed the live-fire exercise routine and legitimate.

Dec. 20, SEOUL, South Korea -- Seen here are K-9 self-propelled howitzers mobilized for South Korea's maritime artillery live-fire drill on Dec. 20 on Yeonpyeong Island bordering North Korea in the Yellow Sea. This is a file photo taken in February 2010. (Photo : Yonhap)

Kim says the artillery drill is for self-defense and part of the country's sovereign right.

A few hours before the exercise, the United Nations Security Council failed to reach a consensus on lowering tensions on the Korean peninsula.

Diplomats say China, among other nations, would not back a statement condemning North Korea for recent aggressive behavior, including the shelling of Yeonpyeong island last month.

After the U.N. talks failed, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice defended South Korea's decision to go ahead with the artillery drill. She noted the two fatal attacks this year blamed on North Korea - the sinking in March of a South Korean navy ship and last month's shelling of Yeonpyeong island.

"If the events of the last year have shown anything it is that the Republic of Korea has every need and right to ready its self defense having lost 50 citizens simply over the course of the last nine months," said Rice.

A Chinese vice foreign minister on Monday renewed his country's call for more talks and said no one has the right to provoke conflict on the Korean peninsula.

Dec. 20, SEOUL, South Korea -- Citizens watch breaking news at Seoul Station on the South Korean army's live-fire drill that started near the inter-Korean maritime border in the Yellow Sea on Dec. 20. (Photo : Yonhap)

Also Monday, a veteran American diplomatic troubleshooter wrapped up a trip to Pyongyang. He was quoted by the CNN news network as saying the North Koreans have agreed to allow U.N. nuclear inspectors back into the country.

Former ambassador Bill Richardson (the governor of New Mexico) was quoted as saying the North Koreans also agreed to negotiate the sale of 12,000 fresh fuel rods so they could be shipped out of the country.

For seven years, the United States, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea have tried to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons programs in return for aid and greater diplomatic recognition. Despite agreeing to do so, Pyongyang has tested nuclear weapons and recently revealed a new fuel production facility.

Members of South Korea's political opposition unsuccessfully appealed to President Lee Myung-bak to cancel Monday's artillery training.

Democratic Party lawmaker Chung Dong-Young is a former cabinet minister who previously negotiated with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

"It['s] irresponsible of the president if he panders to the tastes of the conservative forces," he said. "The president should be responsible if the artillery fire from Yeonpyeong island brings another dangerous exchange of fire, which might go out of control."

Last month, conservatives criticized the president for not responding forcefully to the North Korean attack, which killed four South Koreans.

In the early 1950's, the two Koreas fought a three-year year. A truce has been in place since 1953, but no peace treaty has been signed.  (*)

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak says artillery drills ‘natural’ for national defense

President Lee Myung-bak

SEOUL, Dec. 20 (KATAKAMI / Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak said Monday that the South Korean military's artillery drills from the western border island of Yeonpyeong were an appropriate move aimed at protecting the country's territory and that no other country can take issue with them, according to Lee's office.

"It is natural for a sovereign country to conduct a military exercise for territorial defense," especially as it is a divided nation with military confrontation, Lee was quoted as saying. "Nobody can meddle in it."

The president made the remarks while receiving briefings on the 90-minute live-ammunition training near the tense Yellow Sea border, said Hong Sang-pyo, senior secretary for public affairs at Lee's office Cheong Wa Dae.

Lee also ordered the government to stay on full alert against possible provocations by the North when he visited the crisis management center at the underground bunker of Cheong Wa Dae, Hong said.

The South's military pressed ahead with the artillery firing as scheduled despite the North's threats of a military response and formal requests from China and Russia for the cancellation of the training plan. There was no immediate report of unusual activity by the North following the end of the drills.

Monday's firing had political implications beyond a simple military exercise, with the North refusing to accept the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto maritime border between the two Koreas.


The two sides remain technically at war since their 1950-53 conflict ended in a cease-fire, not a binding peace treaty. The navies of the two sides were engaged in skirmishes in the western waters near the NLL, drawn by the U.N. troops at the end of the war, in 1999, 2002 and 2009.

Pyongyang claims that the Yellow Sea border actually lies far south of the NLL.

Most recently, the North abruptly shelled Yeonpyeong Island last month, killing two marines and two construction workers. It claimed it was a self-defensive measure in response to the South's naval drills in its waters at that time.

Meanwhile, the South Korean president stressed the importance of national unity against the North's provocation.

"It is important for our people to be united," Lee said.

"Should public opinions be split, the enemy will try to exploit it, even if our defense capability is strong and superb," the president said as he was briefed by the home ministry on its major works next year.

His remarks were viewed as intended to head off political attacks from opposition parties. How to deal with the nuclear-armed communist neighbor is a longstanding source of ideological disputes in South Korea.

The main opposition Democratic Party had called for the South's military to scrap its plan to stage the live-ammunition drills in the tense Yellow Sea, saying maintaining peace is a top priority.

Cheong Wa Dae confirmed a news report that Gen. Walter Sharp, commander of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), and Washington's ambassador to Seoul, Kathleen Stephens, visited Cheong Wa Dae during the weekend.

Their visit was to discuss the issue of the artillery training on Yeonpyeong Island, and they frequently consult with Cheong Wa Dae officials, presidential spokeswoman Kim Hee-jung said in a separate press briefing.

"The U.S. side said that it supports South Korea's military training plan irrespective of North Korea's response and that it will stay with us whatever happens," Kim said.  (*)

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov reiterates concern over Korean crisis

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

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December 20, 2010 (KATAKAMI / RIA NOVOSTI) --- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday that tensions between the two Koreas have reached their highest point and expressed regret that the UN Security Council failed to prevent further escalation of the conflict.

South Korean military conducted 90-minite live-firing exercises on Yeonpyeong Island near the disputed border with North Korea earlier on Monday. The drills went ahead despite threats of retaliation from Pyongyang, a month after the North Korean military shelled the island, killing four people.

"The situation [on the Korean Peninsula] is very tense...That is why we requested an urgent UN Security Council meeting...And although to our regret it has not led to a statement, the discussions sent a clear signal: It is necessary to avoid any provocative actions that could destabilize the situation," Lavrov said.

The key issue that prevented the UN from adopting a coordinated statement was the fact that the United States and China had different views on the issue. The United States refused to adopt any statement without a clear condemnation of the reclusive communist regime, whereas China was against blaming Pyongyang.

Contrary to its earlier warnings, Pyongyang said in a statement on Monday that it would not retaliate on the latest "reckless military provocation" from Seoul because South Korean shells landed this time farther south of the North's shores.

The North does not recognize the sea border between the two countries, known as the Northern Limit Line, and claims the waters around Yeonpyeong as its territory.


MOSCOW, December 20

UN Security Council to meet over Korean crisis on Sunday

Escalation of tension on Korean Peninsula

December 19, 2010 (KATAKAMI / RIA NOVOSTI) --- The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Sunday at Russia's request to discuss the escalation of tensions on the Korean peninsula.

Closed-door consultations will start at 11:00 a.m. EST (16:00 GMT), Mark Kornblau, a spokesman for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, told reporters in New York on Saturday.

The United States holds the council's rotating presidency in December.

Russia's envoy to the U.N. Vitaly Churkin reiterated on Sunday that Russia was seriously concerned over further escalation between the two Koreas because the current situation in the region "directly affects the national security interests of the Russian Federation."

"We believe that the Security Council must send a restraining signal to the Republic of Korea [South Korea] and DPRK [North Korea], and help launch diplomatic activity with a view to resolving all issues of dispute between the two Korean sides by political and diplomatic means," Churkin said.

Russia's Foreign Ministry on Friday already expressed its concern to North Korea's ambassador Kim Jong-Jae over the reclusive communist state's promise to use military force should its rival South Korea hold live-fire drills in the Yellow Sea.

Pyongyang earlier blasted Seoul's plans to hold exercises on Yeonpyeong Island on December 18-21, saying its response would be "deadlier" than the shelling in November that killed four South Koreans on the island.
The North does not recognize the sea border between the two countries, known as the Northern Limit Line, which was drawn up by the United Nations at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.  (*)

UNITED NATIONS, December 19

South Korean army chief quits as scale of North’s nuclear ambition emerges

General Hwang Eui-don, who has resigned as the head of the South Korean army. Photograph: Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images

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December 14, 2010 (KATAKAMI / GUARDIAN.CO.UK) --- The chief of the South Korean army resigned today, two weeks after the defence minister was replaced amid sharp criticism of the country's response to North Korea's attack on Yeonpyeong island.

General Hwang Eui-don's resignation came as South Korean intelligence officials warned that North Korea has been secretly enriching uranium at as many as four undisclosed locations, potentially giving it access to a new source of fissile material for nuclear weapons.

The enrichment plants are in addition to a similar facility at the regime's main nuclear facility in Yongbyon, revealed last month, following a visit by the US scientist Siegfried Hecker.

North Korean officials claimed that the Yongbyon plant had more than 1,000 working centrifuges, but insisted they were intended for power generation and not for the production of weapons-grade uranium.

"The business of peacefully developing nuclear energy and using it is happening in our country, in line with the international trend," the Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of North Korea's ruling party, said today. "Peaceful nuclear activity is a sovereign right of all nations."

Hwang is said to have resigned over his involvement in a property investment deal, but his departure will be seen as a further blow to the country's military so soon after the Yeonpyeong attack, which killed two soldiers and two civilians.

Kim Tae-young resigned as defence minister to take responsibility for what many South Koreans believed was a weak response to the 23 November attack, the first targeting civilians since the 1950-53 Korean war.
The South fired artillery rounds in response but did not order air strikes. It has since vowed to retaliate with much greater force to any further provocations by Pyongyang.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said Hwang, who only took up the post in June, was under pressure over profits from the property deal.

"General Hwang offered to retire following media reports about his property investment, because he judged it was inappropriate for him to stay in the post at a time when he has to lead reform of the army," Yonhap quoted a defence ministry official as saying.

His resignation comes on the eve of South Korea's biggest civil defence drill for years. Fighter jets will fly around the country and people will run to thousands of underground shelters as part of a simulation of a North Korean air attack.

News that the North's uranium enrichment programme may be more widespread than previously thought could add to fears that the regime is seeking to augment its plutonium stockpile.

"The uranium enrichment facility at Yongbyon that the North disclosed to US scientist Siegfried Hecker is not among the three or four South Korea and the US have established to be in existence," the intelligence official was quoted as saying in the Chosun Ilbo newspaper.

"We have established that the uranium enrichment tests that the North has been conducting for some time are at separate locations."

The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, yesterday voiced "deep concern" about the uranium enrichment programme in a meeting with his North Korean counterpart, Pak Ui-chun.

Lavrov urged Pyongyang to comply with UN security council resolutions banning uranium enrichment and called for a quick resumption of six-party talks on its nuclear programme. Aside from Russia and the two Koreas, the stalled talks involve the US, China and Japan.

The failure to resume multiparty negotiations sparked a new regional diplomatic push that will continue in the coming days.

South Korea's nuclear envoy was due to meet his Russian counterpart to discuss the shelling and uranium enrichment, while the governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, will begin a four-day, private visit to North Korea on Thursday.  (*)

South Korean Foreign Minister heads to Washington for three-way talks with U.S., Japan counterparts over N. Korea tension

Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan left for Washington Sunday for talks with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts

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SEOUL, Dec. 5 (KATAKAMI / Yonhap) -- Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan left for Washington Sunday for talks with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts on how to deal with North Korea, which has ratcheted up tensions with an artillery strike against South Korea and revelations of a new nuclear facility.

Kim is scheduled to hold a three-way meeting Monday with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara to discuss the North's shelling of the South's Yeonpyeong Island and the worsening standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear programs.

Kim also plans to hold bilateral talks with Clinton.

"How to draw cooperation from the international community and neighboring countries in dealing with the North's attack and its uranium enrichment program and, particularly, how to cooperate with China will be the focus of the meeting," Kim told reporters at Incheon International Airport.

The North's Nov. 23 strike on a fishing village killed four people, including two civilians, and wounded 18 others. It was the first time the North has bombarded South Korean soil since the 1950-53 Korean War, though the sides have fought naval skirmishes and border gunfights.

The shelling came on the heels of revelations that North Korea is running a facility to enrich uranium, a fissile material which, if highly enriched, can be used to build atomic bombs. The uranium program gives the North a second way of making nuclear weapons after its existing program using plutonium.

Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan leaves Incheon International Airport on Dec. 5 to attend a meeting with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts in Washington. (Yonhap)

The three top diplomats are also expected to discuss a Chinese proposal that members of six-party nuclear talks meet in early December to discuss defusing heightened tensions. The nuclear negotiations bring together the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the U.S.

In response to the offer, South Korea reiterated its existing position that North Korea should first demonstrate its denuclearization commitment through action, saying laying the groundwork for progress at the talks is more important than just rushing into talks for talks' sake.

Washington and Tokyo have shown similar responses.

South Korea, the U.S. and Japan have been calling on Beijing to use its leverage over North Korea to discourage the belligerent regime from provocations.

China is considered to have the strongest influence over Pyongyang as the impoverished nation's biggest provider of food and energy aid as well as diplomatic support. But Beijing has been unwilling to wield that influence over concern that instability in the North could hurt its economic and political interests.

"The Chinese proposal is expected to be a key topic for discussions," a foreign ministry official said on condition of anonymity. "The three countries plan to issue a joint statement after the meeting that is expected to include their position on the proposal."

Another topic that could be discussed at Monday's talks is the possibility of censuring North Korea at the U.N. Security Council for the artillery shelling that officials said violated the U.N. Charter and other peace agreements.

South Korea has been cautious about bringing the North's attack to the Security Council due apparently to difficulties in winning support from China, one of the five veto-holding permanent members of the Council.

But such efforts could speed up as the U.S. has taken over the rotating Council presidency in December, and Russia, another permanent member, is likely to support the move given that Moscow has condemned the attack.

Russia's support for Council action against the North could put pressure on China to follow suit because it would leave Beijing in an awkward position of being the only member opposed to punishing Pyongyang. (*)

S. Korea names new defense minister

Dec. 3, SEOUL, South Korea -- Defense Minister nominee Kim Kwan-jin vows to tell the truth during his parliamentary hearing at the National Assembly on Dec. 3. (Yonhap)

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SEOUL, Dec. 4 (KATAKAMI / Yonhap) -- Kim Kwan-jin, former head of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, was named the country's new minister of defense on Saturday.

Cheong Wa Dae formally appointed the retired four-star Army general as the country's new defense chief, after Kim went through a confirmation hearing Friday.

Kim, 61, replaces Kim Tae-young, who came under fire over the military's allegedly inadequate and late response to North Korea's deadly shelling of South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island near the tense Yellow Sea border on Nov. 23.

During his hearing, Kim Kwan-jin vowed to respond with air strikes in case of additional North Koran provocations.

The attack on Yeonpyeong killed two South Korean marines and two civilians, while forcing residents to evacuate their homes. It was the first North Korean strike on a South Korean civilian area since the 1950-53 Korean War.

The two countries remain technically at war since the Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

In his inauguration speech, Kim said if North Korea attacks South Korean territory and its civilians again, then the South should quickly and powerfully respond with force "until they (North Koreans) surrender."

"We do not want war, but we must never be afraid of it," he said. "We're in the worst crisis since the Korean War. Our enemies will keep trying to take advantage of our weaknesses and will plot new provocations. We must make them realize how steep of a price they will have to pay for their provocations on us."

Kim is scheduled to visit Yeonpyeong Island later Saturday, his first trip there as the defense minister.

President Lee Myung-bak rebukes ministers for response to N. Korean provocation

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SEOUL, Nov. 30 (KATAKAMI / Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak reproached his Cabinet members Tuesday for not having the right sense of crisis at a time when South Korea's national security is at stake, Lee's office Cheong Wa Dae said, apparently mindful of persistent public outcry over the administration's response to North Korea's latest military attack.

"We should recognize that (South Korea) is confronting the world's most belligerent group," Lee was quoted as saying in a weekly Cabinet meeting. But there seems to be a perception that dealing with a national crisis is a task for only the defense ministry, he said, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokeswoman Kim Hee-jung.

He was presiding over the first Cabinet meeting since the North's attack on the populated island of Yeonpyeong, just south of the tense inter-Korean border in the Yellow Sea, a week ago. The attack killed two marines and two civilians, with nearly 20 others wounded.

"In a divided nation, national security is not relevant to the defense ministry alone. It is a matter for all ministries," Lee said.

The president stressed that Cabinet members should enhance their own awareness of national security first before asking the public to do so.

Lee's comments came amid unrelenting public criticism that the government had fumbled its initial response to the artillery barrage, leading to the resignation of Defense Minister Kim Tae-young and a wave of anti-Pyongyang protests here.

"In a national emergency situation, all Cabinet members must return to their duties regardless of whether they were at the National Assembly or elsewhere," Lee said.

He was apparently referring to the defense minister, who was late to the emergency security meeting at Cheong Wa Dae convened shortly after the North's attack last week due to his attendance at a parliamentary committee.
Delivering a Trade Day speech later in the day, meanwhile, Lee said South Korea is still on track to become the world's seventh-largest exporter despite North Korea's continued military provocations and threats, proof of the international community's trust in the country's economy.

"This is exactly the time for all of us to fulfill our duties in our respective places," he said during an event marking the Trade Day.

South Korea's exports are expected to jump more than 28 percent this year to a record high of more than US$460 billion and again by more than 11 percent next year to reach $520 billion. The major Asian economy is projected to top US$1 trillion in total trade volume next year.

Le said stable economic indicators, including stocks and the currency exchange rate, in spite of the soaring military crisis are evidence that South Korea's economy has matured and that the international community has high confidence in it.  (*)