Pyongyang’s Choice
Responsible Leadership Should Think Its People First
U.S. President George W. Bush has resumed his criticism of North Korea as one of the world's worst dictatorial regimes. Bush's latest rebuke of Pyongyang, albeit far weaker than his famous ``axis of evil'' labeling, was a far cry from his relatively warm gesture of the past few months, which included even hints at diplomatic normalization. This seems to reflect Bush's displeasure with the North's foot-dragging in implementing the Feb. 13 agreement. And that could signify another juncture in the nuclear crisis.
The biggest stumbling block of Pyongyang's frozen funds at Macau-based Banco Delta Asia (BDA) requires concerted efforts of all parties to solve. Despite U.S. and Chinese diplomats' rhetoric, neither Washington nor Beijing has come to the stage in which they coerce their own banks to take up the fund transfer. The two sides should decide how to share the burdens from fully lifting financial sanctions on the North. Pyongyang should also know its brinkmanship tactic will not work this time.
As always, this appears likely to end up as another game of gaining time. It is clear to anyone's eyes, however, who will suffer most from the chicken game _ the famishing North Korean people. Bush's comment may not indicate Washington's immediate return to confrontation tactics, but may give stronger voices to hard-liners. By most appearances, waiting it out indefinitely expecting others to act first seems to be the worst _ and most dangerous _ tactics for the impoverished and famished North Korea.
Pyongyang, if it thinks of its people's plight more than the leaders' political calculation, should act first. This is a situation that fits the old saying, ``The greater haste one is in, the better it would be to take a roundabout way.'' The U.S. Treasury Department is urged to lift any remaining financial sanctions on the North not only in words but also in deeds. China, which has the BDA in its territory, needs to try to change its management or facilitate its M&A to a legal institution.
Still, it is the North that can solve this stalemate. Pyongyang should believe its rivals and partners and take the initial steps, which would help to turn public sentiment in other countries, including South Korea. Launching missiles, either as a sign of its dissatisfaction with delayed rice aid or a show of military strength, will only backfire, providing excuses for Washington's missile defense program. No one is as urgent as the North and its starved people in their need to resolve the stalemate.