Few options left to deal with N. Korea

Moon to call Trump, Abe to draw up tougher sanctions

By Jun Ji-hye

The presidential office and relevant ministries are studying ways of imposing the country's own sanctions on North Korea after Pyongyang's test-firing of another intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

But policymakers are apparently finding this difficult to do as there seem to be few options left for the Moon Jae-in administration to use against the Kim Jong-un regime.

Soon after the North launched the Hwasong-14 ICBM Friday night — the second such test — President Moon ordered his aides to look for ways to impose unilateral sanctions on Pyongyang in addition to those from the international community.

Moon said every possible means should be mobilized to find measures to give the North serious pain, but the so-called May 24 Sanctions, imposed by the former Lee Myung-bak administration, already severed almost all economic ties with the North at the time, except for cooperation at the joint industrial park in the North's border city of Gaeseong.

These sanctions were in retaliation for the North's torpedo attack on the South Korean Navy frigate Cheonan in 2010, which resulted in the deaths of 46 sailors.

Then early last year, the former Park Geun-hye government shut down the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, which was considered Seoul's last resort, in response to the North's fourth nuclear test.

Government officials admit that they have few cards to play against the isolated state.

Ministry of Unification spokesman Baik Tae-hyun said at a regular briefing Monday, "Our working-level officials are reviewing what options we can take. But nothing has been decided."

A Cheong Wa Dae official, asking not to be named, also just said, "We are thinking about economic sanctions."

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Apparently being in an awkward situation amid the absence of options, officials stressed that the door for dialogue with the repressive state still remains open, despite ongoing pressure and sanctions, referring to the government's recent offer to hold inter-Korean military talks to ease tension along the border.

The Ministry of National Defense made its official offer to hold military talks, July 17, as a follow-up to the peace overture proposed by President Moon in a speech in Berlin. But the North has not replied, and only continued missile tests.

Nam Sung-wook, a unification studies professor at Korea University, said that the former governments have exhausted almost all options available against Pyongyang, and the Moon government may only be able to do something in military terms.

"Amending a 2012 revision of missile guidelines agreed between South Korea and the United States could be one option for the Moon government," he said in a radio interview. "Once revised, it will be meaningful in that the South could show its capability of unilaterally taking military action against the North."

While presiding over an emergency National Security Council session, Saturday, President Moon ordered his aides to begin consultation with Washington to revise the missile guidelines to double the maximum weight of a warhead to be mounted on Seoul's 800-kilometer range ballistic missiles to 1 ton from the current 500 kilograms.

This order comes as the payload increase will bolster the nation's capability of striking Pyongyang's underground bunker facilities in which the North Korean leadership would take shelter in the event of war.

The President's other orders included boosting the nation's independent military power at the earliest possible date to more effectively deter the North's evolving nuclear and missile threats.

Following the order, the military is working to advance the schedule to establish a three-pronged defense system — the Kill Chain pre-emptive strike system, the Korean Air and Missile Defense (KAMD) and the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation (KMPR) plan — initially planned to be deployed by the mid-2020s.

The Kill Chain is a system to carry out a pre-emptive strike against Pyongyang's nuclear and missile facilities if Seoul is faced with an imminent threat, while the KAMD would track and shoot down North Korean ballistic missiles heading for South Korea. The KMPR would be used to punish and retaliate against North Korea if it strikes South Korea.

Meanwhile, President Moon, who began his summer vacation Sunday, plans to hold phone conversations with U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe some time after finishing his vacation this Saturday, according to Cheong Wa Dae.

"Once phone conversations between Moon and Trump take place, the two will discuss ways for Seoul and Washington as well as Tokyo to jointly draw up tougher sanctions against the North," a Cheong Wa Dae official said on condition of anonymity.

He added that Japan's foreign ministry has also asked for telephone talks between heads of state. "We will fix the schedule soon," he said.