By Kang Seung-woo
President Park Geun-hye’s “no-retreat” attitude in a tense military standoff with North Korea has been thrust into the limelight, with the inter-Korean deal to defuse tension being seen as a triumph for her firmness against Pyongyang’s threats.
After four days of marathon talks, the two sides issued a joint statement that center on the North expressing regret over landmine detonations in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that seriously wounded two South Korean soldiers.
Despite the absence of a clear apology, the expression of regret is widely viewed as a de facto one from the North, according to analysts.
In exchange, the South stopped broadcasting anti-North propaganda along the border.
While the two sides were locked in talks Monday, President Park showed that she remained resolute in the face of the North’s increasing threats, urging the repressive state to apologize for the Aug. 4 landmine explosions.
“South Korea will take corresponding measures and continue the loudspeaker broadcasts unless North Korea offers a clear apology and promises not to stage any further provocation,” Park said in a regular meeting with her senior secretaries.
U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby praised Park’s hard line stance, saying, “I think the ROK has remained pretty resolute in the face of continued North Korean aggressive actions and rhetoric.”
Evans Revere, senior director at the Albright Stonebridge Group, told Yonhap News Agency that the agreement is a triumph of South Korea’s leadership, determination, persistence, force of arms and diplomacy.
“I think it is clear that the North seriously miscalculated in carrying out the original provocation and in firing on the ROK. Pyongyang may have assumed that the ROK would not retaliate against the North and that they could somehow intimidate the ROK into turning off the speakers," Revere said.
He added that President Park and her government deserve applause not only for their firmness in dealing with North Korean threats, but also for their willingness to come to the negotiating table.
Her strong will was shown from the beginning.
After an exchange of fire across the border, Thursday, Park swiftly convened a National Security Council meeting for the first time, calling for the military to maintain a firm military readiness.
In addition, the North initially proposed the high-level meeting pitting National Security Office chief Kim Kwan-jin against Kim Yang-gon, the top North Korean official in charge of inter-Korean affairs who is lower-leveled than Kim, but the President called for Hwang Pyong-so, the North’s second-in-command, to be present.
Park’s tough stance on the North has contributed to stem its decades-long vicious cycle of creating tension to get economic aid.
“This agreement is the outcome of the government’s hard line stance against the North’s calls for an end to the propaganda broadcasts, accompanied by military threats,” said Kim Kwan-jin.
“So far, the North has been rewarded for its provocation, raising public concerns, but this time, it has found that such a tactic will no longer work.”