PN's Voice 06

Peace Network Korea
PN's Voice 06, 22-07-2014

PN's Voice
Small steps, Road to peace

UN Security Council Denounces Recent North Korean Missile Launches

The UN Security Council publically criticized North Korea’s multiple test launches of short-range ballistic missiles. The North has launched just short of 100 missiles this year alone. These launches are in direct violation of the four existing UN Security Council resolutions on North Korea (resolutions 1718, 1874, 2087, and 2094) which forbids North Korea from launching any projectiles that use ballistic missile technology.

The UN Security Council’s condemnation of these missile launches is irregular in the sense that usually the Security Council only publically discusses North Korea in the wake of long-range missile or nuclear weapons tests. South Korean UN Ambassador Oh Joon attests to this; “it is very unusual for the UN Security Council to release a statement condemning North Korea’s launch of short-range missiles…that indicates just how seriously the council is taking North Korea’s missile launches.”

The discussions on the issue of North Korean missile launches took place at the request of the South Korean government. The South Korean government felt that the lack of a response from the Security Council could be seen as encouraging North Korea to push the boundaries and continue on with missile testing.

North Korea responded to denouncement UN Security Council’s by criticizing the UN’s ignoring of, what North Korean described as, US-led provocation, presumably referring to the joint U.S.-South Korean military drills. North Korea’s foreign ministry took to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) to criticize the UN Security Council’s denouncement of North Korea. The statement released through the KCNA said that "It is a legitimate independent right of a sovereign state to develop and fire rockets” as well as adding that "all military actions taken by our army, including the launch of strategic rockets, are solely an exercise of our right to self defense against the U.S.' nuclear threats and schemes of aggression."

Source : email=paul-schneiss@t-online.de&;OZTRACKING=cb00760a591381e3607eaa17819c5834&url=http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_northkorea/647619.html">The Hankyoreh, email=paul-schneiss@t-online.de&;OZTRACKING=d42bcdf84d2fe197f168e7a8cc4bba96&url=http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2991968&cloc=joongangdaily%7Chome%7Cnewslist1">, email=paul-schneiss@t-online.de&;OZTRACKING=2aabd59aa05016724c9fa0e01ece6540&url=http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20140720000027">The Korean Herald

N. Korea Warns of Retaliation Against US-ROK Joint Drills

This week opened to the news that North Korea has issued a warning towards South Korea and the United States of strong "retaliatory" military acts. The North’s threat refers to the joint South Korean-U.S. military exercise dubbed Ulchi-Freedom Guardian; South Korea and the United States are due to commence the joint drills in August.

This is the latest in a recent string of episodes in which the North has intermixed threats with conciliatory gestures. Monday’s threat of retaliation followed just one day after Kim Jong-Un had reaffirmed the North’s intention to participate in September’s Asian Games to be held in Incheon; an event Kim described as being an “important occasion” for improving inter-Korean relations.

It seems however that the threat of retaliation was not an empty one, as reports have emerged claiming that North Korea is preparing for a “large-scale landing operation involving all branches of its military”. This is seen to be a “countermove” against the upcoming Ulchi-Freedom Guardian exercises a Seoul government source said on Monday.

Source : email=paul-schneiss@t-online.de&;OZTRACKING=121b0c0987d55924e707b22dde427115&url=http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2014/07/21/56/0301000000AEN20140721001200315F.html">Yonhap News, email=paul-schneiss@t-online.de&;OZTRACKING=c30a46b3e549471b256a14347eebc4ed&url=http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/northkorea/2014/07/21/0401000000AEN20140721003400315.html">Yonhap News,

N.K.-Japan Deal Must Not Harm Efforts to Curb N.K.’s Nuclear Program

Hwang Joon-Kook, South Korea’s top nuclear envoy emphasized the need for a recent deal between North Korea and Japan not to stand in the way of ongoing efforts to end Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program. Hwang’s comments came after Japan recently announced it would partially lift some of its sanctions against the North after the two countries held senior official-level talks to discuss the abduction of Japanese nationals. Hwang did point out that both Seoul and Tokyo share the same concerns over the North’s recent multiple missile launches. However, Japan’s recent easing of sanctions against the North has led to fears that this could hamper coordination between Washington, Seoul and Tokyo over the North’s nuclear program.

Meanwhile, Japan has also been in the news for its plan to collaborate with Britain on researching and developing technology for air-to-air missiles that “could one day be loaded on the F-35 stealth fighter jets to be acquired and operated by Japan's Air Self-Defense Force.” This stands to be the first National Security Council arms export related decision since Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe eased the embargo on the exportation of defense equipment.

Under the new rules Japan has made it possible to engage in joint research and development of defense equipment with allies. This won’t be the first time Japan and Britain have collaborated on military hardware; last July they started work on a suit that can protect against chemical weapons.

Source : email=paul-schneiss@t-online.de&;OZTRACKING=fc5d8eb3465f2c82e2d4a6abec836755&url=http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/kyodo-news-international/140716/japan-britain-join-forces-research-missile-technology">Kyodo News, email=paul-schneiss@t-online.de&;OZTRACKING=a0571db92a4d4aeb3fe9cb9fe7614849&url=http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/yonhap-news-agency/140716/n-korea-japan-deal-shouldnt-hurt-nuke-cooperation-efforts-of">Yonhap

Why Germany Isn’t a Model for Unification Korea to Follow

Yong Kwon of The Diplomat wrote a very interesting piece this week critiquing South Korean President Park Geun-Hye’s Dresden Doctrine. According to Kwon’s article, President Park’s so called Dresden Doctrine is destined to fail because the situation in Germany precluding unification was far different to the situation on the Korean peninsula today.

During her New Year’s speech in Dresden President Park stated that unification would be a “jackpot” for Korea. Her proposal was that the two Koreas could take a leaf out of Germany pre-unification by cooperating on “humanitarian issues, infrastructure development, and restoring a sense of common nationhood.” Park’s plan for unification has been met with criticism that the plan is “overly optimistic” and casually ignores the key differences between the Korean and German cases.

One of the biggest weaknesses to Parks; Dresden Doctrine was shown up when Pyongyang rejected the doctrine as it promotes unification by absorption. North Korea doesn’t wish to be compared with the smaller, weaker and poorer East Germany that was ultimately absorbed by the richer and more powerful West Germany. Additionally, to compare North Korea to East Germany is not a relevant comparison to make as East Germany was a satellite of the USSR, where as North Korea is a country intent on regime survival. Finally, Beijing doesn’t have anywhere near the kind of influence over North Korea that Moscow had over East Germany.

I fully recommend you read the original article for more detail as to why President Park’s Dresden Doctrine of following Germany’s reunification model is flawed and destined to fail.

Source : email=paul-schneiss@t-online.de&;OZTRACKING=7ca4a74cb3720037437c90045204d178&url=http://thediplomat.com/2014/07/why-korea-cant-follow-germanys-reunification-model/">The Diplomat







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