Reports on the ROK-USA split on Nork Nukes are mostly overblown

Anti-Unification Chung Dong-young is a hack so I expect him to say dumb things from time to time.  With the lasted round of the Six Party talks in recess, Chung took the opportunity to stick his foot back in his mouth:

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said that, "I think North Korea ought to have the right to develop nuclear power plants for peaceful purposes, such as agricultural, medical, and energy-generating ones..."

"The U.S. does not recognize North Korea's right to operate a peaceful nuclear program because Pyongyang broke the Geneva Agreement and developed nuclear weapons," he said in the interview to mark his first year in the (NSC) post.

But Chung stressed that, "Seoul has believed, even before the resumption of the six-way talks, that if Pyongyang re-signs the non-proliferation treaty and allows the inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency, it is qualified to have peaceful nuclear program."

I'm not sure what Chung is talking about here; atomic rice?

I have long since stopped taking Chung seriously.  But when Foreign Minister Ban says basically the same thing, I take notice:

Ban told reporters at the airport that if the North returns to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) and allows inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), its demand to pursue peaceful uses of nuclear energy could be explored.

When the talks went into recess, five countries were in common cause regarding North Korea's nuclear programs.  I guess it was inevitable that the Roh administration would be the one to break ranks.

This looks bad but I don't think it is quite as bad as it seems.  First of all, Chung has stated that North Korea will have to give up on the development of the KEDO reactors that were being built by a US-led consortium in Shinpo.  I may be wrong about this, but I would also assume that any deal would include the dismantling of Yongbyon plant and the shipping out of nuclear materials from North Korea.  Chung also said that NK would have to allow IAEA inspections.

Furthermore, the Foreign Ministry offered a clarification of Seoul's position which, while still calling for the right of 'peaceful use,' stated:

...South Korea's position is also conditional on North Korea not possessing uranium-enrichment or plutonium-reprocessing facilities and graphite-moderated reactors which experts say produce greater amounts of plutonium, the key material for nuclear bombs.

So South Korea's position is that North Korea must first give up it's nuclear weapons program, it's Pakistani-built uranium enrichment equipment, it's plutonium-reprocessing facilities, it's graphite reactors (including Yongbyon and the two larger facilities they are trying to build) the KEDO plants and summit to full IAEA inspections.  Unless Pyeongyang has a light-water power plant tucked away somewhere, Seoul's position is that Plyeongyang must give up every nuclear facility and piece of equipment it has.  So when the Foreign Ministry and the State Department say that their positions are not that far apart, I agree.

But Chung is still a jerk.

Comments

[Spectator]

Andy, I agree with everything you wrote, especially about Chung. Chung aka "Jerk" needed to say what he did as to appease the socialist radicals in the South and score brownie points with the Dear Leader. It's really pathetic if you think about it.

[jtb-in-texas]

Why do we have so many "allies" that seemingly regret not being run by Stalinists?

[usinkorea]

Don't we have to take Chung seriously? He is the head of the national secruity team too, right?

[oranckay]

Nice of you for trying to make sense of the situation when for so many out there it seems to tempting just to vent and rant, something particularly easy for people who just don't know their stuff like you do.

I do try to be as undertanding as I can of Chung, mostly because I know that in his position he can't really say what he thinks, sort of like how Bush and Rice et all now refrain from calling KJI what he really is, only with Chung as Uni minister multiply that awkwardness by 2 zillion. So I can forgive him for not talking about NK human rights out loud, but it's the things he does say when he opens his mouth that make you think he's something of a sleazebag.

[jtb-in-texas]

Orackay is right, Chung does have a tough job... but it doesn't excuse a number of things he's said... He ought to know that KJI will only be satisfied with Uni his way.

More and more, the South Koreans are sounding like they're on KJI's payroll. Which they might be. But that's not important now. Because Korean youths are growing up hearing how US GIs are terrorists and beat up defenseless cabbies and kill innocent women who refuse sex...

The question is more about how should the US take this latest faux pas and it appears that Bush&Co are just ignoring Chung. Which might be the right move.

I just wish our "allies" would quit acting all huffy and irritated that we kept them democratic during the Cold War...

My mum-in-law is apolitical. She was in North Korea while the Japanese and Russians were doing their best to erase Korean heritage. Her family took advantage of the 625 to move south and then to then US (with a few exceptions). They just try to get along whereever they're at...

Maybe one day I'll learn how to do that... but for now, I'm roughly 14 in-laws short of actively consigning the whole ungrateful lot of 'em to Pyongyang's tender mercies...