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Many suspected that differences in North Korea policy between a Lee Myung-Bak administration and the Roh Moo-Hyun administration were going to be largely cosmetic. Most thought it as an open secret that North Korea policy would largely remain the same… Stability is after all, much more valuable to most South Koreans than any chance of a North Korean collapse.
Well… Nam Sung-Wook, Professor at Korea University and advisor to the President-elect is quoted in the International Herald Tribune (Choe Sang-Hun, “Lee plans to harden Seoul’s line with North Korea, 20 December 2007) as stating:
“For now, you can forget about the October summit agreements. We will review them all from scratch to see if they are justified…the North must realize that we have a new government here and that things will be different”
Interesting times ahead. North Korea policy could well be in for a more significant change than many thought… Read some interesting views on Lee at Marmot’s Hole and DPRK Studies.
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1 response so far ↓
1 James Turnbull // Jan 16, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Hi, I don’t wish to appear rude, especially in my first ever comment on your blog(!), but who are the “Many” you refer to that suspected that differences in North Korea would be “largely cosmetic”? I agree that the stability of NK will remain paramount, but I find it difficult for anyone to have described the ending of the sunshine policy and the sending of no-strings attached billions of dollars of “aid” as merely a cosmetic change.
Sorry, I don’t mean to imply that you’re lying or anything, but the NY-based Korea Society’s podcasts especially have recently gotten me interested in NK and Unification issues, and I’m trying to get my bearings on commentators and opinions etc. If you could pass the names of some people with those opinons on, I’d really appreciate it!
Keep up the good work.
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