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SKOREA-NKOREA-MILITARY-DIPLOMACY
Seoul drops ‘enemy’ reference to North Korea
SEOUL, Jan 15, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Seoul crossed out a reference to nuclear-
armed North Korea as its enemy in a defence white paper published Tuesday,
amid rapidly warming ties despite stalled nuclear talks between Pyongyang and
Washington.
The 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty,
placing a heavily fortified border across the peninsula and leaving it still
technically at war.
For years South Korea and the United States have carried out large-scale
military drills against potential attacks from the North, while Pyongyang has
repeatedly threatened to turn Seoul into a sea of fire.
But ties between the two Koreas have warmed significantly in recent months
under the South’s dovish President Moon Jae-in, who has held three summits
with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un since taking office in May 2017.
The biennial report — a blueprint for South Korea’s defence and security
goals for the next two years — said “any external force” that threatened the
country’s sovereignty or territory would be considered an enemy.
It also described Pyongyang’s weapons of mass destruction as a threat but
did not apply the term to its military provocations or cyber attacks.
In the previous white paper, dated 2016, Seoul described Pyongyang as
posing “major threats” to national security, adding that “the North Korean
regime and its military will remain an enemy” as long as such threats
persist.
Moon has pursued a policy of engagement with the North, in increasing
contrast to Washington, which insists pressure should be maintained on
Pyongyang until it denuclearises.
The 2018 white paper said that the three inter-Korean summits as well as
Kim’s Singapore meeting with Trump had created “a new security environment
for the complete denuclearisation of and peace on the Korean peninsula”.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1420 hrs