[LINK] "South Korea Names North’s Regime ‘Enemy,’ Seeks Change"

[rfmcdonald]

This is a change, and it does seem to have the potential to destabilize the bilateral north-south situation, much more than an unlikely revival of the Sunshine Policy that saw the South treat the North as a viable partner.

South Korea named the North Korean regime as its “enemy” and promised to combine a stronger military deterrent with a renewed push to prepare its totalitarian neighbor’s 23 million people for reunification.

Plans presented to President Lee Myung Bak by the Defense, Foreign and Unification Ministries today signaled a harder line against the North and a diplomatic drive to win global support. While Lee said multinational talks were the only option to end North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, policies aimed at undermining Kim Jong Il’s regime and the focus on planning for reunification are likely to rile the North.

“As the future of North Korea is becoming increasingly unpredictable, such preparation is necessary,” said Park Joon Young, professor of international relations at Ewha Womans University. “Steering North Korean residents toward that goal is the thing that North Korea hates the most.”

Lee has found revived public support for the tougher approach to North Korea he promised when elected in 2008, after two attacks this year raised tension on the peninsula to its highest in decades. North Korea shelled a South Korean island last month, killing four people, and was blamed for sinking the Cheonan warship in March, in which 46 sailors died.

Lee replaced his defense minister and army head following the Nov. 23 artillery barrage, vowing to strengthen the military and respond more harshly to any further North Korean attacks.

[. . .]

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said today it will continue to deepen ties with China. South Korea and the U.S. fought against Chinese and North Korean troops in the 1950-1953 Korean War, and China remains the North’s biggest benefactor. China has come under mounting pressure from the U.S., Japan and South Korea to rein in Kim’s regime.

[. . .]

In a shift of focus, the Unification Ministry said next year’s policy goals would include preparations for unification with North Korea, rather than the previous strategy of improving ties. The “North Korean” people would be the priority, it said in a statement, without giving further details.

The South Korean government has been at pains to draw a distinction between the regime and the people.

While it is unlikely the ruling elite would change their habits, the way the country’s civilians think is changing fast, officials said at a Unification Ministry briefing, according to a statement from the ministry that didn’t identify the speakers.