The north is putting the charm offensive in full swing. Notice they are responding to the US rejection of their offer without responding to President Park's overtures.  We should always keep in mind two things.  One of the keys to the north's strategy is to always try to split the ROK/US Alliance.  Second, the north believes it is superior to the South and that by dealing directly with the US its own legitimacy is enhanced.   It does not want to give the appearance that it treats the South as an equal.

N. Korea offers to meet U.S. on rejected nuclear test proposal

BY MICHELLE NICHOLS

UNITED NATIONS Wed Jan 14, 2015 5:00am IST

http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/01/13/northkorea-usa-un-idINKBN0KM2GJ20150113

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South Korean soldiers take part in an anti-terror drill in Seoul August 18, 2014.

CREDIT: REUTERS/KIM HONG-JI/FILES

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(Reuters) - North Korea offered on Tuesday to meet directly with the United States in a bid to sway Washington after it rejected Pyongyang's proposal to suspend nuclear tests if annual U.S. military drills with South Korea were shelved.

North Korea's Deputy U.N. Ambassador An Myong Hun told a news conference at the United Nations that if Pyongyang's proposal was accepted then "many things will be possible this year on the Korean Peninsula." He did not elaborate.

On Saturday, the U.S. State Department called the offer by North Korea a veiled threat that inappropriately linked nuclear tests and the joint military exercises that have been carried out for decades.

"The government of the DPRK (North Korea) is ready to explain its intention behind this proposal directly to the United States. We're ready for that if the United States wants additional explanation about our proposal," An told reporters.

An said the "meaningful and significant proposal" was made on Friday through "appropriate channels."

"By refusing to accept our proposal ... the United States has shown once again that they will continue to increase attack military capabilities in South Korea while requesting us not to have our own national defense capabilities. This is absolutely unacceptable and cannot be justified by anything," he said.

North Korea is under an array of United Nations, U.S. and other national sanctions for repeated nuclear and ballistic missile tests since 2006 in defiance of international demands to stop.

It often promises to call off nuclear and missile tests in return for comparable steps by Washington to ease tensions. It reached such a deal in February 2012 with the United States for an arms tests moratorium only to scrap it two months later.

The United States and South Korea have said the annual military drills are purely defensive, aimed at testing the allies' readiness to confront any North Korean aggression.

Earlier on Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel said the United States has no problem talking with North Korea.

"But talking is not negotiating. And our insistence is that North Korea come to the table prepared to honor its obligations and commitments, prepared to take meaningful steps that constitute credible and authentic negotiations," he said.

(Additional reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by David Gregorio)

A BFO (blinding flash of the obvious) of course but I am happy to see AP and the NY Times reporting on this while the focus is on Syria.  I have noticed more articles on north Korea during this period of the Syrian crisis, perhaps because of the connection of north Korea and Syria but articles like this are unrelated and help to explain the nature of the Kim Family Regime which policy makers and strategists need to understand.

But I also think that the Alliance 9and the US Administration) is fortunate to have President Park in office because with all the other distractions around the world it is very, very helpful that we are at a point where South Korea can and is willing to take the diplomatic lead with north Korea.  But we should keep in mind that President Park is able to be both a flexible and tough negotiator with the north because of the foundation of the strong ROK/US military alliance.  We cannot afford to neglect that.

V/R

Dave

---

September 8, 2013

AP Analysis: NKorean Charm Offensive About Money

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2013/09/08/world/asia/ap-as-koreas-tensions-analysis.html?smid=tw-share&_r=1&

SEOUL, South Korea — Spring's threats of nuclear war have given way to a summer of mini-breakthroughs on the Korean Peninsula. But scratch the surface and Pyongyang's charm offensive seems more about money than any great leap forward in diplomacy.

North Korea's recent string of concessions, including Friday's restoration of a cross-border military hotline, simply puts the rival Koreas closer to where they were several years ago, before North Korean attacks, atomic and missile tests, and the warnings in March and April of nuclear and missile strikes.

And despite hope that the Koreas will soon resume various languishing cooperative projects, North Korea has shown no willingness to temper a nuclear weapons drive opposed by South Korea, the United States and the United Nations.

Nuclear talks are the goal, but neither Washington nor Pyongyang will make compromises that could smooth the way for their resumption. Pyongyang insists that it be recognized in any future disarmament negotiations as an undisputed nuclear power, something Washington refuses to do. Many also suspect that North Korea's push for the so-called six-party disarmament talks after five years of inactivity is merely a gambit to trade empty nuclear promises for aid.

So while the generally mellowing atmosphere between the Koreas is far preferable to threats of war, the larger inability to settle the nuclear crisis and forge better ties between Washington and Pyongyang means that the possibility of provocations and another plunge in ties remains.

The recent optimism, albeit guarded, is a testament to the terrible state of inter-Korean relations. Whereas tangible diplomatic and security accords were once seen as the measure of a breakthrough, a simple easing of tension is now greeted as progress.

This spring's unexpectedly intense warlike rhetoric and defiant moves by new North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may even have prompted pangs of nostalgia in Seoul for his father, the late dictator Kim Jong Il. His 17-year rule at least contained some predictability as he alternated provocations with flashes of charm intended to win aid.

Now that Pyongyang's rhetorical firestorm has died down, that ancient pattern of brinkmanship appears to be playing out again.

"This is about the cash flow," Stephan Haggard, a North Korea specialist at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, wrote recently about Pyongyang's decision to start "making nice" with Seoul.

The Koreas are in talks to resume operations at a jointly run factory park in the North Korean border city of Kaesong. Before Pyongyang pulled out its 53,000 workers in April, the plant brought the poor country a rare legitimate stream of foreign currency.

The countries also plan reunions later this month of families divided by the Korean War, and Pyongyang has proposed talks on restarting lucrative, jointly run tours to the North Korean resort of Diamond Mountain, called Kumgang in Korean.

(Continued at the link below)

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2013/09/08/world/asia/ap-as-koreas-tensions-analysis.html?smid=tw-share&_r=1&

A bright spell in the Korean Peninsula By Joseph R DeTrani

A slight quibble:  the 1953 Armistice did end the Korean War, it only temporarily suspended the fighting. The war is not yet over.

Only time will tell if the Ambassador's thesis is correct: e.g., that this summer's charm offensive is actually an attempt at de-escalation of tension by the Kim Family Regime.

I am one of the doubters but as always I hope to be proven wrong.

V/R
Dave

A bright spell in the Korean Peninsula By Joseph R DeTrani http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/KOR-01-260813.html On the 60th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, there is reason for guarded optimism that a peaceful resolution of tension with North Korea is achievable. The last 20 years have conditioned us to believer that North Korea will persist, despite periods of apparent reconciliation, with its nuclear weapons and missile programs, despite United Nations sanctions and international condemnation. It's possible that North Korea's new leadership recently assessed the benefits that would accrue from denuclearization, in terms of security assurances, economic assistance, foreign investment and ultimately normal relations and international legitimacy, and  concluded that a peaceful resolution of the nuclear issue is in North Korea's interest. Relations with North Korea during the last six months have been tense. After North Korea's February 2013 nuclear test and the subsequent imposition of United Nations sanctions, North Korea assumed an aggressive posture: Threatening the US with a pre-emptive nuclear strike and to make Seoul "a sea of flames", unilaterally closing the Kaesong Industrial Complex and pledging to build more nuclear weapons, to include uranium enriched nuclear weapons. These threats, from a Kim Jong-eun, a leader who initially removed some of the hardline supporters of his father and spoke of economic reforms, were unexpected and resulted in a display of US and South Korean military might that showed the two forces could effectively deal with any military threat from North Korea. This, indeed, was a tense and unfortunate period. Any miscalculation from either side could have sparked military conflict on the Korean Peninsula. Fortunately, this did not happen. For the past six weeks, tensions on the Korean Peninsula have eased. The initial visit of North Korea Vice Marshal Choe Ryong-hae to Beijing, who met with President Xi Jinping and others in the Chinese leadership, no doubt was North Korea's attempt to maintain a good relationship with a China that was critical of North Korea's brinksmanship, as evidenced by Beijing's support for intensified UN sanctions in March 2013 and their decision to cease banking relations with North Korea's Foreign Trade Bank. I view the visit of Vice Marshal Choe, a close confidant of Kim, as the beginning of North Korea's de-escalation of tension, in an apparent effort to maintain good relations with a China they depend upon for food and energy assistance. On August 14, South Korea and North Korea agreed to re-open the Kaesong Industrial Complex, pledging "not to shut it down again under any circumstances" and to "internationalize" Kaesong to foreign investors. This is an important agreement. For North Korea, it means about 50,000 workers from the North have jobs, in addition to an annual revenue of more than US$30 million for North Korea. Immediately following this agreement, the South's President Park Geun-hye said that the two Koreas should resume arranging reunions of families separated by the Korean War and she renewed her proposal to build an "international peace park" inside the demilitarized zone. In response, North Korea agreed to the South's proposal to resume the reunion of families separated in the Korean War. These reunions should take place on September 19, 2013, during the Chuseok Harvest Festival. North Korea also will call for the resumption of tours from the South to Mount Kumgang, which will remain problematic until the North complies with Park's request that the North apologize for the death of a South Korean tourist to Mount Kumgang a few years ago. This significant easing of tension between the two Koreas is encouraging and appears to be a policy approach now being pursued by the leadership in Pyongyang. (Continued at the link below) http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/KOR-01-260813.html