The Kaesong ‘Collision Course’

Whatever the U.N. is  about to do about North Korea  won’t matter to South Korea’s government: 

South Korea and the U.S. look set for a clash over the inter-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex and tourism to Mt. Kumgang in the North. President Roh Moo-hyun and the government have stressed the importance of joining hands with the international community in addressing Pyongyang’s nuclear test claim, but they add the industrial park in the North and the package tours have nothing to do with UN sanctions against Pyongyang. They reportedly made that decision on Wednesday, even before the UN Security Council was done deliberating a U.S. draft resolution that would cut off all financing that could go into the North’s weapons development. The draft would stop transfer of all kinds of assets, money, goods and technology related to North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction.

Meaning:  next time you hear the “unilateralism” meme from any South Korean who doesn’t criticize Roh for this, nod politely,  collect your change, and move along, but brace yourself for it anyway, because the United States doesn’t need U.N. approval to carry out  other options, such as PSI enforcement or PATRIOT 311 sanctions.  Without drawing that connection directly, the Chosun Ilbo predicts where this may be headed:

“If the U.S. version is adopted, we may face a situation where the U.S. claims that the two projects should be subject to the resolution and we claim otherwise,” another official admitted….  Two factors will be decisive. First, the U.S. is taking a two-phased approach in implementing the UNSC resolution. It says it will first see how the communist country responds to the resolution 30 days after it is adopted and then take additional measures if necessary. That may include sanctions on all kinds of trade that may support North Korea’s production of WMD, in the UN resolution if the North ignores it. In this case, all funds, goods and technology would be embargoed, and that would put Seoul into a very tight spot.