It is inevitable for Washington to choose sticks over carrots to tame Pyongyang’s recalcitrant military regime. For now, no one is ready to talk about a conciliatory exit from tensions on the Korean Peninsula that have been escalating since North Korea’s torpedo attack on a South Korean warship in March.
After holding the ``2+2” talks between foreign and defense ministers of the South and the U.S. in Seoul Wednesday, State Secretary Hillary Clinton announced a plan to impose new sanctions on the North. No doubt the sanctions are aimed at punishing Pyongyang for sinking the 1,200-ton Cheonan in the West Sea, killing 46 sailors.
The already-impoverished North is expected to feel more acute pain from additional sanctions designed to cut off money flowing to its leaders. As Clinton said, the U.S. will expand existing arms embargoes and economic sanctions under U.N. resolutions. Despite the latest U.N. sanctions for its second nuclear test and long-range missiles launches, the North staged the ship sinking.
What’s important now is to tighten the noose around the neck of the Kim Jong-il regime to prod it to give up its provocations. The U.S. should work hard with the South to rally international support for the punitive measures against the world’s last Stalinist state. We urge China, the staunchest ally of North Korea, to join the U.S. efforts to hold Pyongyang culpable for the naval incident.
China should no longer try to protect the North if it really wants to be a more responsible member of the international community. Ignoring the truth about the North’s attack will only destroy peace and stability on the peninsula as well as in Northeast Asia. It is also frustrating to see China’s opposition to a purely defensive joint naval drill between South Korea and the U.S. to be held in the East Sea on July 25 to 28.
Such an irrational Chinese position has virtually encouraged the U.S. to slap further sanctions on Pyongyang. The State Department is set to put the sanctions in place within two weeks. For this, Washington plans to freeze about 100 bank accounts suspected of being used for North Korea’s weapons exports and other illegal transactions.
The financial sanctions may resemble the freezing of $24 million in North Korean money at the Banco Delta Asia in Macao in 2005. The previous case was seen as successful in bringing the communist country to its knees, forcing it to go back to denuclearization talks. A new package of U.S. sanctions might cause a further delay in the resumption of the stalled six-party talks for the North’s denuclearization.
But, it is necessary for the U.S. and its allies to go through such a delay and prolonged tensions in a bid to teach the North how to behave. Now, it’s time to prove that sticks are far more effective than carrots. We hope the new sanctions will work to bring change to the reclusive North and bring peace to the peninsula.