Pyongyang Urges Seoul to Honor Summit Accords
By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
North Korea Tuesday expressed hope in a New Year's message that inter-Korean summit accords on economic cooperation will be implemented on schedule under the incoming administration that has pledged to get tougher on the North.
The North refrained from commenting on President-elect Lee Myung-bak and his North Korea policy, which prioritizes the North's nuclear disarmament before aid.
Previously, Pyongyang strongly criticized South Korea's conservative forces led by the main opposition Grand National Party and their hard-line North Korea policy.
The joint editorial carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency did not mention its failure to meet a nuclear disarmament deadline.
The North issues a joint New Year newspaper editorial every year to set out its policy goals for the year to come.
South Korean experts on North Korean affairs said the editorial reflects the North's intention not to provoke the next South Korean government amid a flurry of talks on cross-border business projects struck during the summit between President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il last October.
``It's a rare New Year joint editorial in the face of the incoming conservative administration in South Korea,'' said Professor Nam Sung-wook of Korea University who advises Lee's transition team on North Korea policy. ``The editorial showed both the North's recognition of the Lee administration and its demands for the incoming administration to honor the summit accords.''
Lee's spokesman Joo Ho-yeong said the North's low-key attitude was a positive sign for inter-Korean relations.
``We express strong sympathy with the North's flexible position (on inter-Korean affairs),'' said Joo. ``At the same time, we express hope that Pyongyang will honor the multinational agreement to disable its nuclear programs in a sincere manner to further develop inter-Korean relations under the new South Korean government.''
Pyongyang failed to meet the Dec. 31 deadline to declare a full list of its nuclear arms programs under a denuclearization-for-aid nuclear pact signed with the United States, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia last February.
Under the deal, the North would receive 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil or equivalent aid and other concessions from the five other countries in return for disabling its key nuclear facilities and providing a list of its atomic activities.
The October summit in Pyongyang produced a package of South Korean-backed business projects on almost all sectors of industry across the border including establishing a ``peace zone'' in the area near the West Sea.
The two Koreas have held over 20 rounds of working-level talks to flesh out the summit accords, churning out about 190 agreements related to economic cooperation programs.
The transition team, however, recently demanded the outgoing government not to push for inter-Korean agreements in a hasty manner.
The President-elect has pledged a tougher policy toward North Korea demanding more reciprocity from the Stalinist state. He said his government would ``review every inter-Korean accord'' through a cost-benefit analysis and South Korea's aid programs for the North would be linked to progress toward the abolishment of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programs.
Lee, a former Seoul mayor, said big-budget business programs placing much financial burden on South Korean taxpayers would take a backseat until the domestic economy revives.
In the editorial, Pyongyang vowed to improve the livelihood of its poverty-stricken people without detailing measures to overhaul its destitute economy. ``Today, the economy is getting priority in the construction of a great, prosperous and powerful nation.''
The North reiterated its efforts to build up its 1.1-million-strong military, referring to its flagship ``seongun'' military-first policy. It called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea and denounced annual joint exercises by South Korean and American troops.
``We should constantly increase the military strength of our republic by holding fast to the (Workers) party's Songun-based revolutionary line,'' said the editorial.
``It is important to make the spirit of giving priority to military affairs prevail in the whole society, strengthen militias including the Worker-Peasant Red Guards and the Young Red Guards, and turn the whole country into an impregnable fortress,'' it said.