Peace treaty a long way off

Replacing the armistice with a permanent peace treaty on the Korean Peninsula appears to be further off than ever amid strained inter-Korean ties following the sinking of the Cheonan. 

Marking the 60th year anniversary of the 1950-53 Korean War, relations between the two Koreas have become tattered beyond recognition after a multinational team of investigators accused Pyongyang of sinking the ship on March 26. The incident killed 46 of the sailors aboard. 

“In order to achieve a permanent peace regime, both Koreas will have to take equally effective measures for defusing tension, but that seems unlikely at this point, especially in the aftermath of the Cheonan, which has eroded much of the existing trust between the two Koreas,” said Kim Tae-woo, senior research fellow of the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses.

He also pointed out that it would be impossible for the peace treaty to become realized until the North shows its intention to fully denuclearize. 

“If not, Seoul has too much to lose if it agrees to ease its military vigilance in return for a peace regime,” Kim pointed out.

Conservatives are concerned that as part of a peace treaty, the North may issue requests such as calls for the U.S. troops to pull out. 

Pyongyang has in the past made such demands -- as early as in 1962 --along with other requests such as disassembling the U.N. Command. 

There are currently some 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea as part of the allied military forces. 

South Korea’s official stance regarding the peace treaty remains that it cannot be negotiated before the nuclear problem is resolved. 

“We will not be making any concessions or be discussing this issue until we gain impetus for completely and irreversibly denuclearizing North Korea,” said one official on the condition of anonymity.

Seoul has said the Sept. 19 agreement signed in 2005 with North Korea and other members of the stalled six-way talks that a peace regime may be discussed in a separate forum after the denuclearization issue is on its way towards resolution. 

“We have not yet discussed what the separate forum will be, but that seems a long way off considering the situation regarding the Cheonan,” said another high-ranking government official who declined to be identified. 

On Jan. 11, Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry had indicated its willingness to return to the stalemated six-party dialogue if “related parties” put priority on signing a peace treaty.

Officials here related to the issue had accused the North of attempting to divert the attention of the multilateral talks to the peace regime, and away from denuclearization. 

(Yonhap)