North Korea to seek RI support over ship sinking

Mustaqim Adamrah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 07/30/2010 10:45 AM

North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-Chun is scheduled to meet with his Indonesian counterpart Marty Natalegawa next Monday, an Indonesian Foreign Ministry official says.

The visit may highlight the country’s efforts to gain support from Asian states, including Indonesia, over a ship sinking row, which has placed it under threat by world powers, especially the US, and deepened its isolation from the rest of the world.

“The context of his visit is actually to make preparations [along with Indonesian officials] ahead of the special ministerial meeting for the MDG [millennium development goals] review in Asia and the Pacific,” Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah told The Jakarta Post.

“But they may raise other issues, such as the Korean peninsula [boat] incident. We would also like to hear what steps they are taking.”

Four months ago, the South Korean warship ROKS Cheonan sank in the waters off the Korean west coast, killing 46 sailors.

A joint civilian-military investigation group led by the South Korean Defense Ministry and comprising some international members claimed that a North Korean submarine fired a torpedo that sank the ship in what Seoul called the worst military attack on it since the 1950-1953 Korean War.

North Korea has denied any role in the sinking of the Cheonan. The UN also condemned the attack, but did not identify the attacker.

While denying any North Korean involvement in their investigation, the team of international investigators concluded the torpedo was fired from a North Korean submarine, prompting South Korea to take punitive measures ranging from slashing trade, resuming propaganda warfare and blockading North Korean cargo ships.

Faizasyah did not disclose any possible Indonesian response to North Korea about the incident.

“They already understand our stance and what our concerns are in the Korean peninsula,” he said.

He added that Marty was scheduled to visit both South Korea and North Korea between Aug. 22 and 25, where the issue will certainly be raised again.

University of Indonesia international relations expert Hariyadi Wirawan said what North Korea was doing was collecting support as it felt more cornered by “almost all countries”.

“Certainly, a frustrated [North Korea] is collecting political support because almost all countries buy into the North Korean torpedo theory,” he told the Post.

“[North Korea] expects countries such as Indonesia to help it prevent total isolation [from the world community] as the two have good relations, although not very close.”

Hariyadi said it was a high time for Indonesia to regain the North’s trust to help resolve the issues in global forums.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono cancelled a planned trip to both North and South Korea in 2006, but last visited South Korea later in 2009 to attend an ASEAN summit on Jeju Island.

Early this week, US and South Korea hold a massive joint military training “to warn Pyongyang” against any aggression while both countries’ naval ships fired artillery and dropped anti-submarine bombs off South Korea’s east coast.

Military analysts have agreed that the tension would not escalate into war as long as South Korea holds its fire. North Korea’s obsolete conventional military equipment and nearly 1.2 million ill-fed soldiers mean quick and certain defeat if it wages full-scale war, and Pyongyang is well aware of its limits.

Some analysts, however, expressed concerns that as the level of rhetoric rises, there is always a risk of skirmishes, which could in turn develop into wider conflict.