I guess the good news is that if you take the Chinese government at their word they are not planning to send troops into downtown Seoul again to destroy the ROK. On the other hand I think everyone knows peaceful reunification is never going to happen as long as the Kim regime remains in power in North Korea:
President Park Geun-hye on Friday said South Korea and China could quickly begin various discussions on how to achieve a peaceful unification between South and North Korea.
“Peaceful unification is the fundamental and the quickest way to resolve nuclear and other issues,” Park said in a press gaggle aboard Air Force One on the way back to Seoul from a trip to China, referring to tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
Tensions persist on the divided peninsula over the North’s pursuit of its missile and nuclear weapons program. The communist country has a track record of staging provocations against South Korea.
The North — which conducted three nuclear tests — has repeatedly vowed to develop its economy and nuclear arsenal in tandem, viewing its nuclear programs as a powerful deterrent against what it claims is Washington’s hostile policy against it.
South Korea “would cooperate with China for a peaceful unification,” Park said. “Various discussions could begin as soon as possible on how to achieve a peaceful unification.” She did not provide a specific time frame. [Korea Herald]
Considering that the North Korean leader did not attend the parade I think that his delegate deserved to get the second class status he received from the Chinese:
North Korean Vice Marshal Choe Ryong-hae watches a military parade in Beijing, marking the seventieth anniversary of China’s war victory over Japan, Sep. 3. Choe was seated far away from President Park Geun-hye, who was seated near the center. (Yonhap News)
The North Korean delegation that attended China’s military parade was headed by Vice Marshal Choe Ryong-hae.On Sep. 3, Choe was present at the military parade on the parapet of Tiananmen – the Gate of Heavenly Peace – in Beijing. Choe was standing almost at the end of the line of dignitaries, to the right side of Chinese President Xi Jinping. This was a sharp contrast with Park Geun-hye, who was only one person away from Xi.There is speculation that China‘s decision to position the North Korean envoy toward the end of the line of dignitaries reflects China’s relations with North Korea, which have been chilly in recent years.Another interpretation is that China placed Choe at some distance from Park out of consideration for the South Korean president.But it‘s also possible that, considering that Choe was just an envoy, and not the leader of North Korea, his position on the parapet should not necessarily be seen as a snub. When China announced on Aug. 25 the figures who would be attending its ceremony commemorating the victory over Japan in World War II, its inclusion of Choe in a list of 30 national leaders including Park and Russian President Vladimir Putin was regarded as a sign of respect. [Hankyoreh]
Also unsurprisingly is that the North Korean state media did not report President Park Geun-hye’s attendance at the military parade where she received the VIP treatment.
This photo released on Sept. 2, 2015, by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency, shows North Korea’s national female choir Chongbong staging a performance, along with the North’s State Merited Chorus, at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow on Aug. 31, 2015. It marks the first time the all-female band, founded by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in July 2015, has performed to the public. (Yonhap)
I like this type of engagement with North Korea where reforesting the environment is beneficial to both sides, however Seoul should not have agreed to pay for their studies in Germany. Instead they should have offered them to train in South Korea. If the Kim regime can afford nuclear weapons and ICBMs, they can afford to send their own scholars to school in Germany. By the way I guess this guy won’t be going to training in Germany:
Seoul plans to provide funding for North Korean forestry specialists to study in Germany, a U.S. news report said Saturday, in its latest effort to restore deforested mountains in the North.
Under the plan, South Korea will help around 30 North Korean experts study in Germany by providing US$70,000, according to the Voice of America (VOA), which cited the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.
The specialists will visit Germany in four batches between September and November. Germany, with forests covering one-third of its area, has one of the world’s leading forestry industries. [Korea Times]
The report doesn’t say whether the changes were made after or before the recent cross border incident that led to a negotiated settlement between the North and the South. If these changes were made afterwards maybe Kim Jong-un was not aware of the operation to plant landmines on the southern side of the DMZ? It seems unlikely to me though because that would be something pretty audacious for a military commander to think he could get away with doing something like that without consulting the regime inner circle first:
Kim Jong Un, the querulous North Korean leader, said the recent standoff with South Korea was resolved not through negotiation but “thanks to the tremendous military muscle” of the country’s nuclear weapons.
Some analysts have suggested that Pyongyang’s recent eagerness to hold talks with Seoul could be a sign of domestic vulnerability for Kim, whose official titles include first chairman of the National Defense Commission and supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army.
But according to North Korea’s version of events, last weekend’s standoff with South Korea was a sign of the former’s strength.
“We protected the dignity and sovereignty of the country, the gains of the revolution and the happiness of the people by our own efforts amid the tempest of the history without anybody’s support and sympathy,” Kim told officials at a meeting to analyze and review the “revolutionary measures” the regime had taken over the past week, according to the country’s official Korean Central News Agency.
The news report, published Friday, also said that the 30-something leader had dismissed some members of the Central Military Commission, which is responsible for the Korean Workers’ Party’s military policies, and appointed new ones. But it did not say which officials had been replaced. The dismissals come after an extended period of sometimes-brutal personnel changes in North Korea, notably Kim’s execution of his defense minister this year. [Stars and Stripes]
