North Koreans who signed up to join the army march in the midst of political tension with South Korea, in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang August 23, 2015. Reuters/KCNA
New York Times: Koreas Agree on Deal to Defuse Tensions
SEOUL, South Korea — In a deal to defuse tensions on the divided Korean Peninsula that were rapidly escalating toward armed conflict, South Korea agreed on Tuesday to switch off its propaganda loudspeakers on the border, while North Korea agreed to stand down from its “semi-war state,” a high level of military alert.
North Korea also expressed “regrets” for the maiming of two soldiers from the South in land-mine explosions, Kim Kwan-jin, the chief national security adviser to President Park Geun-hye of South Korea, said during a news conference.
Mr. Kim also said that the two Koreas agreed to hold reunions of aging Koreans who became separated from relatives during the 1950-53 Korean War. Such reunions, last held in February 2014, are seen as a barometer of thawing relations.
WNU Editor: South Korea has agreed to close down their loud-speakers .... North Korea has agreed to express regret on the landmine explosion that severely injured 2 South Korea soldiers last week. Will this defuse tensions between the two countries .... for now yes .... for the future ... probably not.
More News On North And South Korea Agreeing On A Deal To Defuse Tensions
Koreas reach a deal in talks -- Washington Post
South and North Korea 'agree deal to reduce tensions' -- BBC
North Korea expresses regret over landmines that wounded South soldiers: statement -- Reuters
North, South Korea Reach Agreement to End Military Standoff -- WSJ
Seoul: S. Korea to halt loudspeaker broadcasts after N. Korea expresses regret over mine blast -- AP
North lifts 'semi-state of war' posture -- Korea Times
North and South Korea reach agreement to end current tensions: Yonhap -- Reuters
Report: North Korea, South Korea reach agreement -- CNN
4 comments:
Yet North Korea are deploying "70% of the country's known fleet"? Interesting.
https://news.vice.com/article/50-north-korean-submarines-have-reportedly-vanished-in-an-unprecedented-deployment?utm_source=vicenewsfb
North Korea and the Fat Leader won this round. This is bad.
Let's consider this from several perspectives.
1. North Korea initiates provocations. This time, North Korea set the landmines that injured the South Korean soldiers.
2. North Korea's "regrets" are meaningless. When a nation state really wants to apologize, it pays compensation to the victims of its actions. North Korea offers words, not cash. The wounded soldiers remain wounded.
3. North Korea received something real, cessation of the broadcasts, in exchange for words. This is an asymmetry that is not lost on anyone.
4. The incomprehension with which we in the West view the North Korean fixation on the broadcasts is irrelevant. The fact that the broadcasts seem a trivial nuisance to us does not mean they are not important to the Fat Leader.
5. A Machiavellian explanation is that the Fat Leader may have engineered this showdown over a seemingly trivial matter, i.e. the broadcasts, in order to make a very significant point: he has shown, to himself, to his own military, to South Korea, to the USA, and to the neighbors (Russia, China, and Japan) that South Korea fears war more than he does. He has also shown to all the players that the South Koreans and their allies will blink first. This precedent is far more important than the broadcasts themselves, and might explain why North Korea chose the broadcasts as its casus belli.
6. I suspect that, behind the scenes, the Obama Administration was pressuring the South Koreans to cave. This president wants to end his term before any new wars begin.
7. This is an ominous precedent and one that will come back to haunt South Korea and the United States. Of course, none of this means that war is imminent or even inevitable. But there will be future crises, and the Fat Leader will remember who blinked first. This is not good.
I concur Publius. Especially on point #6 and #7.
WNU Editor,
Pubilus's take is perfectly rational.
The NORK's have never acted rationally, nor has their strategy and tactic's ever been rational.
What the NORK's "take" from these events, is not predictable.
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