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US demands the closure of 'cash cow' projects for Kim; SKors get hinky
THE United States and South Korea are on a collision course over sanctions against North Korea because Seoul refuses to close projects that are channelling money to Kim Jong Il. Condoleezza Rice will press South Korea to halt operations at two symbols of cross-border co-operation today. The Kaesong industrial complex and the Mount Kumgang tourist resort are a few miles north of the border dividing the neighbours. Both are funded by the South Korean Government and the huge Hyundai conglomerate, and are intended to build co- operation and trust between North and South. But the US, backed by Japan, believes that the projects Mount Kumgang in particular are cash cows for Mr Kim. The hiking resort seems to be designed to give money to the North Korean authorities, Christopher Hill, the chief US diplomat on the North Korean crisis, said. The controversy has caused deep divisions within South Korea between conservatives who hate the idea of rewarding a country that is building nuclear weapons and liberals who believe engagement is the only way to bring North Korea out of its xenophobic isolation. Kim Hyung O, leader of the South Korean Opposition, said yesterday: The Governments position that it will maintain the projects is tantamount to letting the North take the South Korean people hostage. But President Roh Moo Hyun shows no sign of abandoning the schemes, which have cost South Korea almost a billion dollars and are central to his policy of constructive engagement with the North. For the US, money being sent via the Mount Kumgang project and the Kaesong complex is important, the head of Mr Rohs ruling party, Kim Geun Tae, said. But for us, what is important is that the two Koreas meet and make exchanges. There was a temporary surge in cancellations after the nuclear test, but 40,000 South Koreans have spent a million dollars every month travelling to Mount Kumgang. Dr Rice, the US Secretary of State, flies into Seoul today for talks with her opposite number, Ban Ki Moon, soon to be installed as the new UN Secretary-General. They will discuss the Security Council sanctions designed to punish Pyongyang for its first nuclear test. But the Americans are being accused of hypocrisy for complaining about cash going to Mr Kim. A South Korean official drew attention to $23 million (£12.3 million) that the US paid to the North Korean military between 1996 and 2005 as expenses for repatriating the remains of 225 US servicemen. Dr Rice, in Tokyo yesterday, underlined Washingtons commitment to defend Japan, which was spelt out in their mutual defence treaty of 1960. Her words were designed to emphasise the solidity of the Japan-US alliance and scotch calls for Japan to start its own nuclear programme. Last night President Bush also warned North Korea against exporting nuclear weapons. If we get intelligence that they are about to transfer a nuclear weapon, we would stop the transfer, Mr Bush said. Posted by: .com 2006-10-19 |
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