N. Korea again proves its unpredictability
Foreign reporters depart for Wonsan, North Korea, from the Beijing Capital International Airport, Tuesday, while South Korean reporters have not been approved for visas to the North. / Joint Press Corps
By Choi Ha-young
North Korea's refusal to issue entry visas for South Korean reporters to observe the shutdown of its nuclear test site casts doubt on whether it is serious about improving relations with South Korea, experts said Tuesday.
South Koreans now have fundamental questions about the Kim Jong-un regime: Can they trust any agreements with North Korea? Can North Korea become a normal country?
On May 15, the North invited eight South Korean reporters ― four from a news agency and as many from a broadcaster. They were in Beijing awaiting entry permits to the North until Tuesday afternoon but had to return home in vain. Only foreign reporters were allowed to enter the North.
“This has been a typical tactic of North Korea, to lay a burden on the South Korean government and tame journalists,” said Cha Du-hyeogn, a visiting research fellow at Asan Institute for Policy Studies. “By doing so, Pyongyang can push President Moon Jae-in to attract bigger concessions from President Donald Trump in the summit.”
Cha said such an announcement shows the North's “immaturity” in expressing its views to international society. “Generally, governments express their dissatisfactions indirectly, through unnamed media comments. However, the North does not have such channels.”
North Korean officials have taken issue with the offensive remarks of former North Korean diplomat Thae Yong-ho and the joint military exercises of Seoul and Washington, saying these were reasons for cancelling the high-ranking talks which were slated for May 16.
“The North seems sulky about Seoul's role as a mediator in toning down the 'arrogant' stance of Washington,” said Kim Dong-yub, a professor at Kyungnam University.
“Particularly, the remarks of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about the economic reward in return for denuclearization would have irritated the regime. The North never wants to be viewed as a merchant who sell its nuclear weapons,” Kim noted.
Experts admitted that these are “incomprehensible” reasons for outsiders to put the brakes on the inter-Korean reconciliatory moods. Even the ruling Democratic Party of Korea expressed its regret for the North's exclusion of South Korean reporters, Tuesday.
Pyongyang kept mum over South Korea's repeated requests for the approval of the reporters' coverage of the Punggye-ri shutdown.
Park Won-gon, professor of international relations at Handong Global University, viewed Thae's case as the core reason for the North's decision. “However, the North would know that their claims are not so convincing. For Seoul, it's hard to silence individual defectors,” Park said.
“Still, the reasons are understandable considering the political system of North Korea that put the highest priority on Kim Jong-un's dignity. This is fundamentally due to the differences of ideology,” he added.
However, experts say the fluctuation in the inter-Korean ties would be momentary, and the principle which was confirmed in the Panmunjeom Declaration will remain intact in the long term. “From now on, the government should make the effort to understand the context of North Korea's announcements,” Professor Kim said.