Getting through to North Korea

Give the Americans credit, said Seoul’s Hankyoreh in an editorial. Sending former President Bill Clinton to Pyongyang to negotiate the release of two American reporters was a clever way to break a months-long deadlock over North Korea’s nuclear programs. In April, North Korea quit the six-nation nuclear talks—involving the U.S., North and South Korea, China, Russia, and Japan—after the U.N. Security Council condemned it for launching a rocket. There has been no progress in negotiations since then. The U.S. could not reward North Korea for its stubbornness by sending an official government emissary. So it sent a former president, just as it did in 1994, when Jimmy Carter sat down with Kim Il Sung, father of the current dictator, and persuaded him to restart talks. Clinton’s visit did more than free the hostages. It “signals that a North Korea–U.S. dialogue will begin in earnest.”

The North Koreans sure love to host Americans, said Kang Chol-hwan in Seoul’s Chosun Ilbo. Indeed, Kim Jong Il gave Clinton “a groveling reception,” treating the visit as “a diplomatic victory.” It was nothing of the sort, though, since it served to focus international attention on just how desperate for attention Kim has become. Still, there may be a method to his madness. North Korea keeps insisting on direct negotiations with Washington “while distancing itself from its ally China, which holds all the economic and military keys.” That’s because China has been pushing North Korea to reform its repressive, Stalinist system. Kim would much rather talk to the Americans, who have less leverage over him. No wonder he abandoned the six-party talks.

If that’s Kim’s game, it won’t work, said the Chosun Ilbo. The Obama administration “has clearly stated that it will not recognize North Korea as a nuclear power.” All signs indicate that Obama won’t repeat the mistakes of his two predecessors, George W. Bush and Clinton, both of whom essentially rewarded North Korea “for breaking its promises.” The meeting between Clinton and Kim, far from leading to a softer U.S. stance, has made Obama more determined than ever not to be seen as giving in. He wants more sanctions, and the U.S. Congress agrees. The U.S. “has rarely been as united in its position over the North Korean nuclear dilemma.”

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The Americans can afford to be firm—they have their hostages back, said Seoul’s JoongAng Ilbo. But where’s our Bill Clinton? We, too, have citizens being held by Kim’s regime. A South Korean worker at a joint North-South industrial plant in North Korea was detained four months ago and has been held nearly as long as the two Americans. In addition, four crewmen of a South Korean fishing boat were taken two weeks ago. Our government says it is “doing all it can” to win their release, but we see no signs of progress. The U.S. government was willing to take a risk for its people—it sent Clinton to Pyongyang even though the trip could have derailed U.S. policy. “There are not many who believe that our government would be capable of taking such determined action.” That’s why South Koreans still languish in North Korean jails, while Americans walk free.