N. Korea uses military tensions to force new S. Korea leader to opt for appeasement

Special to WorldTribune.com

North Korea’s ceaseless provocations against South Korea throughout the Lee Myung-Bak government for the past five years are a carefully designed maneuver to force his successor to opt for appeasement, a government official here said.

South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak, right, reportedly discussed North Korea's nuclear test in a meeting with President-elect Park Geun-Hye at the presidential Blue House in Seoul. /AP — South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak, right, reportedly discussed North Korea’s nuclear test in a meeting with President-elect Park Geun-Hye at the presidential Blue House in Seoul. /AP

In a great departure from his progressive predecessors who offered unconditional aid to the North, outgoing conservative President Lee has tightly linked economic assistance with the denuclearization of the nation.

When he took office in February 2008, Lee launched his North Korea policy, called “Denuclearization, Openness, and 3000,” under which Lee proposed economic assistance to triple the North’s per capita income to $3,000 within the next 10 years if the impoverished nation gives up its nuclear weapons.

Under the conditional engagement policy, Lee dismissed the summit agreement made in October 2007 by then outgoing progressive president Roh Moo-Hyun, an accord that calls for massive cross-border projects and economic aid.

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Lee Myung-Bak, N. Korea uses military tensions to force new S. Korea leader to opt for appeasement, Park Geun-Hye, Roh Moo-Hyun

N. Korea uses military tensions to force new S. Korea leader to opt for appeasement added by World Tribune on February 28, 2013
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