The Two (South) Koreas

I have concluded that there must be some South Korean law against holding cabinet meetings.

South Korea’s point man on North Korea said Wednesday that there is no evidence to support reports that North Korea may have a uranium-enrichment program.

“We do not have any information on whether North Korea is carrying out a concrete plan to run a uranium-enrichment program,” Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung said at a meeting of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs and trade.  [Yonhap]

National Intelligence Service Director Kim Man-bok on Tuesday said his agency believes North Korea does have a secret uranium enrichment program, as the United States has long claimed. Kim made the admission at a closed-door session of the parliamentary Intelligence Committee, members said. They said Kim answered in the affirmative to a question whether North Korea runs a uranium-based nuclear program.  [Chosun Ilbo]  

(Note the  unsubstantiated coup rumors in that second link, but don’t get excited about them.)  

At least no one will ever accuse them of stifling dissent about WMD programs.

As South Korea tries to defend  an agreement it loves from scathing criticism, it makes the claim,  one that  gains little support from  the text of the agreement itself, that the agreement addresses North Korea’s uranium program (and we know the North Koreans have one).  In doing so, it stated this rather obvious  law of  diplomatic physics:

“In an agreement, we cannot have a situation where the South Korean government says one thing and the other countries point to another,” the foreign minister said at a weekly press briefing.  [Yonhap]

What if the South Korean government can’t even say the same thing as itself?