Is this new act of NK brinkmanship?

By Kim Young-jin, Kwaak Je-yup

North Korea’s revelation that Seoul requested a series of summit talks during a secret meeting last month reinforced an earlier pledge that its days of dialogue with the Lee Myung-bak administration were over, analysts said.

It also appeared to signal its displeasure with a proposed plan for the two Koreas to meet for bilateral denuclearization talks ahead of multilateral negotiations.

“The North’s unilateral revelation of secret talks on possible summits mean that it will no longer discuss the issue, and that it will no longer discuss anything with the Lee Myung-bak government,” Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, said.

“Also, the North’s criticism of the Lee administration’s double-standards is a message to the United States and China to not demand the North to have dialogue with the South.”

The move came just days after Pyongyang angrily said it would never again speak with Lee’s government. Observers said that move reflected its frustration with Seoul as well as Beijing, which has been pressing it to open its economy.

The North’s sudden statement appeared to catch the Lee administration off guard. Directly after the North’s position was made public, Lee’s chief of staff, Yim Tae-hee, called for an emergency staff meeting to coordinate an official response _ but finished the session without any comment. Cheong Wa Dae staffers were unable to be reached, with their phones switched off.

Instead, the Ministry of Unification released a statement of strong regret, saying it sees “no need to react.”

Cheong Wa Dae’s complete silence seems to express the executive branch’s wish not to play into North Korea’s strategy. The secrecy around the summit proposals, as well as the fear of ruling out all future summit possibilities during the president’s tenure, may also have played a part in this decision.

The north’s apparent dissatisfaction with the Cheong Wa Dae spokesman, mentioned in its statement, may have also contributed to this lip-sealing.

Efforts to warm ties and resume the six-party talks on Pyongyang’s denuclearization have stagnated over the North’s failure to apologize for two deadly attacks last year.

Pyongyang had expressed willingness to rejoin the talks it walked away from in 2009 but it has grown increasingly frustrated with the South’s demand for an apology, maintaining it had nothing to do with the sinking of the warship Cheonan.

The Chosun Sinbo, a pro-North Korea newspaper based in Tokyo, characterized the North’s disclosure as an “ultimatum.” Yet at the same time, the paper said that Pyongyang wants a change in the South’s hard-line policy.

Despite the North’s seeming ambivalence, Foreign Minister Sung-hwan expressed hope earlier in the day that its leader Kim Jong-il would take advantage of the “precious” opportunity to attend a nuclear summit in Seoul next year.

“It’s obvious as shown with the North’s diplomatic impoliteness that it has no sincerity (toward talks with the South),” said Rep. Bae Eun-hee, spokeswoman of the ruling Grand National Party. “The government seems to have taken pains to improve inter-Korean relations with its will to resolve the sinking of the Cheonan and the attack on Yeonpyeong Island last year and contacting unofficially with the North.”

The main opposition Democratic Party’s spokesman Rep. Lee Yong-sup said “The government’s hypocritical stance of keeping a hard-line outwardly while begging for a summit is deceiving the public. However the North’s unilateral revelation should also be criticized.”

yjk@koreatimes.co.kr