South Korea revealed Tuesday a delay in the start of talks with the United States on the local installation of a controversial missile defense system – but a Seoul spokesperson denied that the postponement is aimed at gaining Chinese support for tougher sanctions against North Korea. Earnest says the North Koreans rejected that response.
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“These types of exercises, this type of training, considering the nature of the threat, it’s going to be the new normal for North Korea, unless they were to roll back their nuclear program, which I don’t foresee that happening anytime soon”, said Northeast Asia security analyst Daniel Pinkston with Troy University in Seoul. The two countries have also begun preparatory talks to deploy a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system in South Korea.
“We strongly urge North Korea to immediately halt provocative actions that are propelling it to destruction”, the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
The 1950-1953 Korean conflict ended with the partition of the Korean peninsula into a north and south.
“Much effort has been made to develop bilateral ties to today’s level, but these efforts could be destroyed in an instant with a single problem”, Chu said.
In her nationally televised speech last week, Park defended her hardline approach, including her controversial decision to close the Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea, while stressing South Korean unity as the only way to frustrate North Korea’s designs. North Korea has twice signed agreements with the U.S. and frozen its nuclear facilities, only to find that Washington has not lived up to its end of the deal. There are approximately 28,500 United States troops stationed in South Korea.
On February 6 it defiantly launched a satellite-bearing rocket, a move the West sees as a cover for a ballistic missile test in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
Seoul and Washington have announced a plan to install the missile system as a means of countering North Korea’s nuclear arms and missile capabilities.
In addition to executing North Koreans who come into contact with Western media, Pyongyang has executed retaliatory air-drops into South Korea.
While most analysts view North Korea’s provocations as a kind of familiar madness reminiscent of the sable-rattling that Kim’s father and his grandfather indulged in, the drumbeat of increasingly bellicose threats seems to have gotten out of hand. Since assuming office, Obama has consistently insisted that Pyongyang take steps to freeze its nuclear programs before any resumption of talks.
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The delay comes as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is set to visit Washington from Tuesday to meet his USA counterpart John Kerry for possible talks over the controversial defense system and North Korea.
