{"id":106082,"date":"2018-02-12T12:01:20","date_gmt":"2018-02-12T12:01:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=106082"},"modified":"2018-02-10T14:36:48","modified_gmt":"2018-02-10T14:36:48","slug":"south-korea-minister-says-military-option-unacceptable-on-north-korea-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2018\/02\/south-korea-minister-says-military-option-unacceptable-on-north-korea-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"South Korea Minister Says Military Option ‘Unacceptable’ on North Korea Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

25 Jan 2018 <\/em>– South Korea\u2019s foreign minister said today the standoff over North Korea\u2019s nuclear program must be resolved diplomatically, and she was certain Washington would consult her government first if a military option were to be considered.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Kang Kyung-Wha, South Korea’s Foreign Minister, attends the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland January 25, 2018. REUTERS\/Denis Balibouse<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe nuclear issue has to be solved through negotiations and diplomatic endeavors. This idea of a military solution is unacceptable,\u201d Kang Kyung-wha said at a news briefing on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration has said all options are on the table in dealing with North Korea, and officials say the president and his advisers have discussed the possibility of a limited strike. But debate on military options has lost some momentum in recent weeks after North and South Korea resumed talks ahead of next month\u2019s Winter Olympics in the South.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2018m assured that anything the U.S. administration does on this front is done in close consultation with us,\u201d Kang said.<\/p>\n

She declined to comment if Washington had given Seoul clear assurance but added: \u201cThis is our fate that is at stake. Any option that is to be taken on the Korean peninsula, cannot be implemented without us going along.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an earlier interview with Reuters, Kang said South Korea was prepared for \u201call contingency scenarios\u201d in case North Korea stages another weapons test, even as the two countries conduct talks and mutual visits relating to the Olympics.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe go into these discussions with a clear understanding of what might be possible,\u201d Kang said, adding, \u201canother provocation is always a possibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kang, who was in Davos to discuss recent progress in inter-Korean talks and to boost awareness of the Olympics, did not discuss details of the scenarios that South Korea was prepared for.<\/p>\n

OLYMPICS <\/strong><\/p>\n

After their first formal talks in more than two years this month, officials from the two Koreas have been visiting each other to facilitate the North\u2019s participation in the Olympics, to be held in the South\u2019s alpine resort town of Pyeongchang.<\/p>\n

North Korea has waged a publicity campaign around its attendance, calling on Thursday for \u201call Koreans at home and abroad\u201d to promote inter-Korean cooperation.<\/p>\n

Kim Jong Un\u2019s regime has also set a new anniversary to mark the formation of its military on Feb. 8 – the day before the start of the Games – and analysts say the nation may observe the day with a large military parade.<\/p>\n

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who will represent the United States at the Olympics, said on Tuesday he would seek to counter what he described as an effort by North Korea to \u201chijack\u201d the Games with a propaganda campaign.<\/p>\n

Seoul has rejected that criticism, saying the Olympics will help defuse tensions over Pyongyang\u2019s nuclear and missile programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an opportunity for engagement and a peaceful engagement around the Olympic Games, and we just need to make the best of it,\u201d Kang said in the interview on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

But she cautioned that sustained improvement in bilateral ties cannot take place apart from the nuclear issue: \u201cThere have to be advances on this front as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

MISSILE LAUNCHES <\/strong><\/p>\n

Last year, North Korea conducted dozens of missile launches and its sixth and largest nuclear test, in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions, as it raced towards its goal of developing a nuclear-armed missile capable of reaching the United States.<\/p>\n

Another test or similar provocation \u201cwould be not acceptable,\u201d Kang said. \u201cAnd further provocations will only lead to further pressure and sanctions\u201d.<\/p>\n

Kang said she was \u201cvery disappointed\u201d with the U.S. government\u2019s decision this week to impose steep tariffs on washing machines imported from South Korea, but said that the trade dispute should not affect a \u201cvery strong security alliance\u201d between the two countries.<\/p>\n

With the North joining the Games, South Korea\u2019s liberal President Moon Jae-in tackled his immediate goal of curbing tensions and reopening cross-border dialogue.<\/p>\n

But analysts say turning the thaw into a longer-term detente will be far more daunting, as the North rejected discussing its nuclear weapons program with the South in earlier talks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe period of non-engagement with North Korea has been too long,\u201d Kang said, hoping that discussions \u201cwill create the momentum for dialogue on the North Korean nuclear issue as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018REHEARSAL FOR WAR\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

In an apparent bid to court the North, which describes joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises as a \u201crehearsal for war,\u201d Seoul had proposed a delay in the drills during the Olympics.<\/p>\n

The proposal was based on the \u201cspirit of the Olympic Games,\u201d Kang said, but declined to elaborate on whether the South would resume the drills after the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re on the same page on all fronts (with the United States),\u201d she said. \u201cSo we will see how the next two months will unfold.\u201d<\/p>\n

China and Russia can \u201cdo more\u201d to improve the enforcement of the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) sanctions against North Korea in areas such as the interdiction of ships suspected of conducting illegal transfers of oil and coal at sea, she said.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Treasury on Wednesday blacklisted nine entities, 16 people and six North Korean vessels it accused of helping the North\u2019s weapons programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is now mandatory by the latest UNSC resolution, if you have information that illicit transfers are being done ship-to-ship, that\u2019s a clear violation and you have to stop that,\u201d Kang said.<\/p>\n

\u201cChina and Russia are members of the Security Council – they have in fact the primary responsibility to see their decisions on the sanctions are implemented.\u201d<\/p>\n

_______________________________________<\/p>\n

Reporting by Soyoung Kim in DAVOS, Switzerland, Writing by Hyonhee Shin in SEOUL; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Bernadette Baum<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 reuters.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

25 Jan 2018 -\u201cThe nuclear issue has to be solved through negotiations and diplomatic endeavors. This idea of a military solution is unacceptable,\u201d Kang Kyung-wha said at a news briefing on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":106084,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106082\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}