Ex-UN chief says conciliatory mood on Korean Peninsula unlikely to last

Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday that the conciliatory mood in inter-Korean relations created by North Korea’s participation in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics might not continue after the sporting event ends.

“Given the circumstances, I don’t think that the conciliatory mood will continue after the PyeongChang Olympics ends,” Ban said during a seminar in Seoul on the PyeongChang Olympics and North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats. “Looking back at the past, the North has frequently made provocative remarks or behavior after major events.”

“We gave a warm welcome to the North’s participation in the Olympics, but in response, North Korea is set to hold a military parade to mark the founding of its armed forces,” he said. Pyongyang moved the celebration of the founding of the Korean People’s Army, originally scheduled in April, to Feb. 8, which is a day before the opening ceremony of the Olympics in the South.

But he stressed the need for continued talks with North Korea.

“Pyongyang’s participation in the Olympics opened a very tiny window (for dialogue,)” Ban said. “Seoul should expand the window to open actual, meaningful talks. Without talks to follow the Olympics, (the) crisis of last year (on the Korean Peninsula) could be repeated.”

His remarks come as the government tries to use the momentum generated by Pyongyang’s participation in the Winter Games to bring together the reclusive regime and the US for talks on denuclearization.

North Korea agreed to participate in the Winter Games to be held in the South from Feb. 9-25, which many see as a sign of a thaw on the peninsula after years of tensions over the North’s nuclear and missile programs.

But Ban said that the goal of any talks with North Korea should ultimately be denuclearization.

“The freeze of the North’s nuclear and missile programs could be a part of the denuclearization process, but it cannot be the goal itself,” he said.

Ban warned against the North’s peace overture, adding that the South should be more “resolute,” “calm” and “confident” in dealing with North Korea.

“You must be well aware that the North has often used peace gestures whenever it was stuck in a difficult situation in the past,” he said. If that’s the case, the North will face even stronger international sanctions than last year’s, he added.

While welcoming the two Koreas’ decision to form a joint women’s ice hockey team and march together under the Korea Unification Flag, he cautioned that “there is a possibility that the North could excessively take advantage of the Olympics.”

Critics have said that the North’s peace overture is aimed at using the Olympics to weaken international sanctions against Pyongyang in the face of economic difficulties and “buy time” to perfect its nuclear and missile programs.

Stressing the need to firmly maintain the South Korea-US alliance, Ban said that Seoul should continue to join the US-led “maximum pressure” campaign against the North.

“South Korea needs to be ready to exert pressure (on North Korea so that) it is made to think that there’s no way out other than returning to dialogue,” he said.

Ban also said that US President Donald Trump’s “strong rhetoric” could be necessary to counter North Korea’s open threats against the international community and deter the reclusive regime from making miscalculations.

(laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)