Tired off commenting because I'm just getting angry.
This will sure help prospects for peace, huh?
"Seoul to reduce aid to North Korea; Cites rights abuse, nuclear program" by Choe Sang-Hun, New York Times News Service | March 27, 2008
SEOUL - The new, conservative South Korean government took a tougher line on North Korea yesterday, warning that it would speak out against human rights abuses in the Communist North and that it would not expand economic ties unless the North abandoned its nuclear weapons programs.
The policy, outlined by the new president, Lee Myung-bak, means at least a temporary reduction in generous South Korean economic aid at a dire time for the North, with cuts in humanitarian aid expected to follow. In recent weeks, relief analysts have warned that food shortages in the North will worsen because of high global commodity prices, flood damage, and aid donors' reluctance in light of Pyongyang's nuclear wrangling with Washington.
"The speed and scope of, as well as ways to push for any development in, inter-Korean relations will be decided according to progress in the North Korean nuclear issue," Unification Minister Kim Hajoong, the South's major policy maker on the North, said during a briefing.
Kim said Seoul would not push for any joint economic programs with the North absent progress in the nuclear disarmament talks. He also promised to make a priority of the issue of the return of South Korean citizens kidnapped by the North, which has largely been skirted by previous governments.
There was no immediate North Korean reaction yesterday.
Lee, who took office last month, has accused his predecessors of making too many concessions to the North in the name of reconciliation and has vowed not to shy away from criticizing the North on human rights.
"I love North Korean people more than anybody else, and I believe the North Korean people should get to a point where they can enjoy the minimum basic happiness of human beings," Lee said yesterday during the policy briefing.
With the new approach, some analysts said, Lee risks alienating Pyongyang. Although the North is dependent on aid, it has in the past refused aid that was not given on its own terms.
The new policy also slows a bold economic effort South Korea pursued in the past decade: building South Korean factories in North Korea, where the companies that own them can use cheap North Korean labor to survive competitive pressures from China.
Also yesterday, South Korea confirmed reports that it would vote for a UN Human Rights Council resolution this week that criticizes North Korea as an abuser of human rights and calls for an extended UN investigation."
