South Korean lawmakers on Tuesday wrangled once again over how to resolve the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK)s nuclear program following its latest nuclear test earlier this month.
Opposition lawmakers here called for the resumption of dialogue with Pyongyang, while ruling party members demanded stronger sanctions and the deployment of a U.S. missile shield in South Korean soil.
Rep. Kim Boo-kyum, member of the main opposition Minjoo Party, said during the first day of the parliamentary interpellation session that sanctions-only approach, which has been pursued by South Korean governments in the past eight years, proved to have failed, according to Yonhap news agency report.
Citing the May 24 sanctions and the shutdown of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, Kim said new approach should be pursued such as a gradual denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, normalized diplomatic relations between the DPRK and the United Sates and the agreement of peace treaty between the two Koreas.
The peninsula is technically in a state of war as the 1950-53 Korean War ended with armistice treaty, not peace treaty. The May 24 sanctions were adopted in May 2010 by then Lee Myung-back administration after a South Korean navy corvette sank in waters by what Seoul claimed was a DPRK torpedo attack. Pyongyang has denied any involvement in the incident.
The Park Geun-hye government closed down the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the DPRKs border town of Kaesong following the fourth nuclear test by the DPRK in January. It was the last remaining inter-Korean economic cooperation project after the May 24 sanctions severed all economic ties between the two Koreas.
The opposition lawmaker said the South Korean government should mull the dispatching of a special envoy to the DPRK to ease tensions on the peninsula.
Meanwhile, Rep. Kim Seong-tae of the ruling Saenuri Party called for an immediate deployment of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) in response to growing nuclear and missile threats from Pyongyang.
Seoul and Washington agreed in July to install one THAAD battery by the end of next year despite strong oppositions from many of its own people and from neighboring countries, especially China and Russia.
The ruling party lawmaker even proposed a nuclear armament of his country as an answer to the DPRKs nuclear program. Some of ruling party members have called for nuclear development in South Korea following the DPRKs fifth nuclear test earlier this month.
Pyongyang said on Sept. 9 that it successfully conducted an explosion test of nuclear warhead to fit on ballistic rockets. It was seen as the most powerful nuclear detonation ever by the DPRK as it produced an explosive yield of 10 kilotons, stronger than 6 kilotons recorded in the previous test in January.
Prime Minster Hwang Kyo-ahn told lawmakers that sanctions-only approach should be maintained at this stage to induce Pyongyang to change its attitude though both dialogue and sanctions can be used generally.
Asked about the possibility for inter-Korean summit, Hwang replied that it would be possible only when the DPRK gives up its nuclear program.
Choo Mi-ae, chairwoman of the Minjoo Party, said at a party meeting that the THAAD deployment, which the ruling party and the government proposed as a response to the DPRK nuclear threats, is military useless.
The chairwoman said that even if the U.S. missile shield is deployed, it would happen more than a year later, asking ruling party lawmakers about how to protect the country in the meantime.
National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun said at a forum in Seoul that the sanctions-only policy toward Pyongyang in the past eight years made the North conduct more nuclear tests and advance its nuclear capability.
Since Pyongyang carried out its first nuclear test in 2006, the second one occurred in 2009. It was followed by the third test in 2013 and the fourth and the fifth detonations in 2016, all of which were conducted under the leadership of Kim Jong Un.
Citing the Sunshine Policy advocated by former South Korean presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun, both of whom held summits with late DPRK leader Kim Jong Il, the parliamentary speaker said efforts at dialogue with the DPRK is important. He noted that severing relations with the DPRK cannot solve any problem.
