Killing of Tourist

Pyongyang Should Stop Aggravating Inter-Korean Relations

The relationship between the two Koreas is going from bad to worse seemingly with little hope in sight right now.

Just as President Lee Myung-bak finally seemed ready to soften his policies toward Pyongyang, North Korean soldiers shot dead a South Korean tourist who had inadvertently wandered into a restricted area. The unfortunate incident couldn't have occurred at a worse time for all concerned, particularly for President Lee.

It would seem the North Korean guards went way too far in killing an unarmed middle-aged woman, who couldn't have known the ABCs of a challenge and just tried to ran away from looming danger in bewilderment. Even if the shooting were an accident, some moral responsibility needs to be taken.

This is why the North Korean officials' shift of the responsibility for the mishap to the South appears all the more brazen. Worse yet, the North is even refusing to let in a fact-finding mission from Seoul. Whether the cause of the shooting was due to insufficient pre-tour cautions or poor guiding facilities, the organizers and governments from both sides should share the responsibility as well as conduct a joint investigation to clarify exactly what happened in the wee hours of Friday.

So much remains unanswered by the North about the accident that one might easily be led to suspect this might not be an accident. Is it conceivable that the action could reflect the accumulated disgruntlement of North Korea and its military in particular toward the new South Korean government, which erupted unconsciously ― if not intentionally ― in the incident?

What gives even a modicum of probability to this perhaps groundless suspicion is the North's response to Lee's olive branch. Pyongyang's official mouthpiece described the South Korean leader's proposal to resume full dialogue as ``laughable petty tricks."

The North might have thought President Lee's failure to completely recognize the inter-Korean agreements at two summit meetings left much to be desired, but Pyongyang's unabated hostility and harsh rhetoric is disappointing indeed.

This is especially so, considering the South Korean President had received reports about the tourist's death right before his National Assembly address, but pushed ahead ― rightly ― with his offer for dialogue. Critics say Lee should have omitted the part on inter-Korean reconciliation after he heard about the accident, but Cheong Wa Dae later cited lack of time for abrupt modification. At the end of the day, however, President Lee seemed to have shown magnanimity in not letting the particular accident ruin the whole.

Similarly, some conservatives' call for North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to make an apology and compensation may be emotionally relieving but not helpful realistically.

The inter-Korean reconciliation has been the process of cool reasoning by the doves of both sides winning over the emotional incitement by hawks. President Lee's initial hard-line stance toward the North resulted from some sort of sense of duty accompanying the power change from progressives to conservatives. Although Lee has turned around somewhat, he still has a long way to go to take up from where his predecessor left off.

Whether Lee will go the rest of the way or not depends also on Pyongyang's reaction, or cooperation.

The joint investigation to settle this incident and resultant resumption of dialogue between the two sides should be the first step.

Otherwise, the two Koreas will undergo a long phase of mutual estrangement with resultant losses for both. As has mostly been the case, the ball is in North Korea's court again. As always, Kim Jong-il holds the final key this time, too.