Limited options

Tough talks must be backed by detailed action

It is disappointing to realize that South Korea has limited options to condemn North Korea for attacking its warship in the Yellow Sea on March 26. The first thing the Lee Myung-bak administration did was to call for a calm and cool response to the naval tragedy that killed 46 sailors.

Four days after the international probe made public conclusive evidence on May 20 that a North Korean submarine torpedoed the 1,200-ton frigate Cheonan, President Lee promised to take stern action against Pyongyang. Then, the government floated the idea of seeking a U.N. Security Council resolution to impose new sanctions on the belligerent state for its provocative behavior.

For this, Seoul has briefly made diplomatic efforts to drum up international support ― especially from China ― for its plan to punish the North. But it seems that Lee and his ministers have almost exhausted their efforts to persuade China, the only ally of North Korea, to back Seoul's bid to bring the case to the Security Council. Beijing has virtually turned down the South's move to protect the North.

Against this backdrop, the Lee administration may give up its attempt for U.N. sanctions against the North. Instead, it hints at a toned-down resolution without any new sanctions. The government is even reportedly thinking about issuing a statement by the council president only to blame Pyongyang for its brutal act. Vice Foreign Minister Chun Yung-woo said in Washington Tuesday that South Korea wants the Security Council to send a symbolic message to North Korea for the naval attack rather than seek additional sanctions.

It is safe to say that the Lee administration had few options from the beginning because it precluded any military retaliation against the North. That's why Lee and his policymakers have only talked tough to give the impression that it was going to do something to inflict a ``slap-on-the-wrist" punishment on the North although the attacker deserves much stronger retribution. In this sense, the government cannot avoid criticism that it has only been long on words but short on action.

Officials may claim that Seoul can tighten the noose around Pyongyang's neck unilaterally or multilaterally in cooperation with its allies by more strictly imposing the existing U.N. sanctions on the recalcitrant North. But we have to ask the question: Can such a softened approach have a real impact on the brazen-faced North that has continued to resort to brinkmanship, saber-rattling and nuclear gambling?

The Security Council adopted a resolution on Pyongyang last summer after the North launched its long-range missiles and conducted the second nuclear test. But the world's last Stalinist country has continued to defy the sanctions and refused to resume the six-party denuclearization process.

Now, the Lee administration should no longer be engrossed with rhetorical profusion without detailed action to force the North to pay the price for its barbarian act. It's time to show what is truly stern and resolute as far as the Cheonan incident is concerned.