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| South Korean Leader Seeks to End ‘Vicious Cycle’ With North | South Korean Leader Seeks to End ‘Vicious Cycle’ With North |
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| SEOUL — President Park Geun-hye of South Korea said on Tuesday that she was determined to break a “vicious cycle” of North Korea’s being rewarded for its bad behavior with compromises and economic assistance. | SEOUL — President Park Geun-hye of South Korea said on Tuesday that she was determined to break a “vicious cycle” of North Korea’s being rewarded for its bad behavior with compromises and economic assistance. |
| Her rebuttal of North Korea’s escalating pressure tactics came a day after the North pulled out all its 54,000 workers from the Kaesong industrial park jointly run with the South. That was followed Tuesday by Pyongyang’s warning that foreigners living in South Korea should devise evacuation plans. “We do not wish harm on foreigners in South Korea should there be a war,” the KCNA news agency quoted a North Korean official as saying. | Her rebuttal of North Korea’s escalating pressure tactics came a day after the North pulled out all its 54,000 workers from the Kaesong industrial park jointly run with the South. That was followed Tuesday by Pyongyang’s warning that foreigners living in South Korea should devise evacuation plans. “We do not wish harm on foreigners in South Korea should there be a war,” the KCNA news agency quoted a North Korean official as saying. |
| The North Korean withdrawal of workers from Kaesong effectively shuttered the last remaining project of inter-Korean cooperation that had survived for eight years despite military tensions on the divided Korean Peninsula. North Korea said the Kaesong Industrial Complex, located in the North Korean town of the same name, can reopen only when the South changed its “attitude.” | The North Korean withdrawal of workers from Kaesong effectively shuttered the last remaining project of inter-Korean cooperation that had survived for eight years despite military tensions on the divided Korean Peninsula. North Korea said the Kaesong Industrial Complex, located in the North Korean town of the same name, can reopen only when the South changed its “attitude.” |
| But on Tuesday, Ms. Park would not budge. | But on Tuesday, Ms. Park would not budge. |
| “This is very disappointing,” she told a meeting of her Cabinet on Tuesday. “How long are we going to repeat this vicious cycle where the North Koreans create tensions and we give them compromises and aid? | “This is very disappointing,” she told a meeting of her Cabinet on Tuesday. “How long are we going to repeat this vicious cycle where the North Koreans create tensions and we give them compromises and aid? |
| “North Korea must stop its wrong behavior and make a right choice for the future of the Korean nation,” she said, accusing the North of flouting inter-Korean agreements to protect investments. “If the North breaks international norms and promises like this, which country and which business will invest in the North?” | “North Korea must stop its wrong behavior and make a right choice for the future of the Korean nation,” she said, accusing the North of flouting inter-Korean agreements to protect investments. “If the North breaks international norms and promises like this, which country and which business will invest in the North?” |
| Since it produced its first products in late 2004, the Kaesong factory park, located just north of the western edge of the inter-Korean border, has shown how the two Koreas could use economic cooperation to overcome decades of political hostilities, signalling hope for an eventual reunification. The two Koreas breached their heavily armed border, clearing mine fields and pushing back military encampments, to build a cross-border road and rail line that linked Kaesong and Seoul. Since then, hundreds of South Koreans and trucks had rumbled through a border cross each day, shipping out textiles and other labor-intensive goods 123 South Korean factories in Kaesong made with low-cost North Korean labor. | Since it produced its first products in late 2004, the Kaesong factory park, located just north of the western edge of the inter-Korean border, has shown how the two Koreas could use economic cooperation to overcome decades of political hostilities, signalling hope for an eventual reunification. The two Koreas breached their heavily armed border, clearing mine fields and pushing back military encampments, to build a cross-border road and rail line that linked Kaesong and Seoul. Since then, hundreds of South Koreans and trucks had rumbled through a border cross each day, shipping out textiles and other labor-intensive goods 123 South Korean factories in Kaesong made with low-cost North Korean labor. |
| North Korea said it was forced to consider shutting down Kaesong because of tensions heightened by routine U.S.-South Korean joint military exercises and the United Nations sanctions imposed for its Feb. 12 nuclear test. | North Korea said it was forced to consider shutting down Kaesong because of tensions heightened by routine U.S.-South Korean joint military exercises and the United Nations sanctions imposed for its Feb. 12 nuclear test. |
| Analysts and officials here agreed that the young relatively inexperienced North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, was making as much of the current situation to boost his standing with the military, divert attention from domestic economic failures and make the outside world used to his country’s status as a nuclear weapons state. | Analysts and officials here agreed that the young relatively inexperienced North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, was making as much of the current situation to boost his standing with the military, divert attention from domestic economic failures and make the outside world used to his country’s status as a nuclear weapons state. |
| North Korea’s ceaseless maneuvers to ratchet up tensions magnified the challenge faced by the new South Korean leader. | North Korea’s ceaseless maneuvers to ratchet up tensions magnified the challenge faced by the new South Korean leader. |
| Ms. Park, South Korea’s first female president, who has cited the late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as her role model, campaigned for her December election with a North Korea policy dubbed "trustpolitik." | Ms. Park, South Korea’s first female president, who has cited the late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as her role model, campaigned for her December election with a North Korea policy dubbed "trustpolitik." |
| In its essence, it copies Washington’s “strategic patience” approach: if the North wins the trust of Seoul and Washington — by de-escalating tensions and expressing a seriousness to negotiate away its nuclear weapons — it will get the dialogue, respect and economic assistance it desperately needs, but its provocations will be met only with more sanctions and isolation. | In its essence, it copies Washington’s “strategic patience” approach: if the North wins the trust of Seoul and Washington — by de-escalating tensions and expressing a seriousness to negotiate away its nuclear weapons — it will get the dialogue, respect and economic assistance it desperately needs, but its provocations will be met only with more sanctions and isolation. |
| As part of a trust-building process, she has offered to de-link humanitarian aid from political tensions. Her approach was seen as more flexible than her predecessor and fellow conservative, Lee Myung-bak. But it fell far short of the North Korean demand for the lifting of the trade embargo South Korea had imposed in 2010 when it blamed the North for sinking a South Korean navy ship that killed 46 sailors. The North denied responsibility. | As part of a trust-building process, she has offered to de-link humanitarian aid from political tensions. Her approach was seen as more flexible than her predecessor and fellow conservative, Lee Myung-bak. But it fell far short of the North Korean demand for the lifting of the trade embargo South Korea had imposed in 2010 when it blamed the North for sinking a South Korean navy ship that killed 46 sailors. The North denied responsibility. |
| Ms. Park faces a delicate political balancing act in South Korea, where voters remain angry over the North’s recent provocations, including its artillery attack on a South Korean island in 2010, but also have grown weary of a prolonged political deadlock between the two Koreas under Mr. Lee. | Ms. Park faces a delicate political balancing act in South Korea, where voters remain angry over the North’s recent provocations, including its artillery attack on a South Korean island in 2010, but also have grown weary of a prolonged political deadlock between the two Koreas under Mr. Lee. |
| On Monday, Ms. Park’s spokesman, Yoon Chang-jung, denied local media reports that the government has drawn up plans to shut down Kaesong. | |
| “Our position remains unchanged that the Kaesong complex should remain in operation," he said. South Korean policy-makers also fear that the continuing tensions might aggravate the geopolitical risk that has been a drag on foreign investors’ confidence on their economy. | “Our position remains unchanged that the Kaesong complex should remain in operation," he said. South Korean policy-makers also fear that the continuing tensions might aggravate the geopolitical risk that has been a drag on foreign investors’ confidence on their economy. |