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The U.S. Finance Department on Thursday froze the U.S. assets of a Swiss company for its alleged assistance to North Korea in the ¡°proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,¡± while White House spokesmen condemned China¡¯s repatriation of a refugee to North Korea. Washington¡¯s special envoy on North Korean human rights has promised this year ¡°will mark a turning point¡± in the U.S.¡¯ failure to grant asylum to any North Koreans, and he warned of an investigation into conditions at the joint South- North Kaesong Industrial Complex.
On Wednesday the Senate Judiciary Committee passed a bill that allows visa to be given on special conditions to people who offer ¡°critical information¡± on illegalities by so-called ¡°rogue states¡± such as North Korea.
In only two days, a salvo of measures from Washington has been aimed at disconnecting North Korea¡¯s network for the export of counterfeit currency and weapons, a major source of funding that maintains the ailing regime. The U.S. has previously said North Korea¡¯s human rights violations and financial crimes should be addressed alongside its nuclear ambitions. Now it is pushing Pyongyang on the first two issues only, with no mention of the nuclear problem. Is that a sign that Washington has at last decided to go for regime change in the North?
Earlier, the former South Korean Unification Minister said there are ¡°slight changes¡± in the situation on the Korean Peninsula, with the U.S. trying to address the North Korean nuclear issue ¡°in connection with its mid and long-term strategy for the peninsula. The changes may seem slight to him: to the rest of us they are a major shock.
Where does that leave the South Korean government, which has been focusing on the nuclear issue while downplaying the crime and human rights matters for fear that they will endanger the six-party talks? Until recently, the two countries at least made an outward show of pulling on the same string. But the U.S. seems to be making it clear that it will no longer concern itself with South Korea¡¯s opinion and approach.
It was only last September that Seoul celebrated its role in the resumption of six-party talks like a great historic achievement. Six months later, South Korea has been completely sidelined in determining the future of the North. It must even be doubted whether Seoul was informed in time about measures the U.S. government has taken against the North.
Seoul¡¯s misjudgment that the country can lead efforts to resolve the North Korea problem under its own steam has led to a fatal weakening of the Korea-U.S. alliance. Now all our government can do is sit and watch as a passive bystander how Washington¡¯s increasingly hardline tactics will play out.
If the two allies continue to go their separate ways, where will it lead them? And who will be responsible for the result?
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