North Korea's
Bad Habit Dies Hard

Amid a rapidly changing international situation, expectations have been running high that South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Ban Ki-moon, who was elected to be the United Nations secretary-general on Oct. 13, will serve as an "arbitrator"in ensuring peace not only on the Korean Peninsula and but also other parts of the world.
However, Koreans'euphoria over Ban's election is short-lived and the U.N. Sec.-Gen.-elect immediately faces a daunting task ― how to deal with North Korea's nuclear test.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's nuclear gambit has once again cast a dark cloud over the Korean Peninsula, reminding of the misgivings that overwhelmed Koreans in the early 1990s in the wake of the North's nuclear ambitions. As in the early 1900s, the peninsula has been facing with a new sense of crisis with superpowers struggling to gain a military hegemony. Amid the mounting tensions on the peninsula, South Korea is also desperate to secure a competitive edge to survive global economic competition.
North Korea's having nuclear weapons will surely prompt Japan to increase its military strength by revising its Pacifist Constitution that could lead to an attempt to produce nuclear weapons to create a domino effect. Under the worst scenario, some South Koreans will also be wondering if they can remain under the U.S. nuclear umbrella.
South Korea, China and the United States and others are striving to urge North Korea to return to the six-party talks designed to bring about the peaceful solution of the nuclear issue. We still hope that the UNSC's approval of a resolution to impose sanctions against the North will pay off ― the Stalinist Kim Jong-il eventually will succumb to the international community's pressure of preempting his brinkmanship with nuclear ambitions.
North Korea's bad habit dies hard. Foreigners may be surprised about South Koreans'calm response to North's nuclear test. Business in the South goes on as usual. Not only South Koreans but also foreign investors may be more optimistic to hear the news that Asian trade ministers are coming here in early November for a meeting in Busan to attend UNESCAP Ministerial Conference on Transport 2006 and ink the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Trans-Asian Railway (TAR), or the so-called Iron Silk Road that could connect Asian capital cities, ports and industrial centers. nw

Publisher-President
Elizabeth M. Oh