North Korea has been very consistent in expressing actions of hostile provocations against The Republic of South Korea. These actions are exemplified in the Yonpyong Island incident that occurred in November 2010, sinking of the Corvette-Cheonan and the continued development of the infamous nuclear weapon (Hak-chun, 2010). It is most likely that North Korea is not only interested in compromising the security within the region but is also putting into test the possible angles of reaction from the international boarders. In an effort to ensure that the continued acts of aggression that North Korea has continued to exhibit are put at bay, The Republic of South Korea ought to follow the simple guideline that has been offered in this paper. In brief, The Republic of South Korea should: look towards reinforcing the strong ties it shares with the US so as to strengthen its military position; maintain its firm position on the fact that 6 party talks only resume once North Korea is committed towards denuclearization; ensure that the 5 party talks present a unified force against North Korea and push china towards clear criticism and condemnation against the actions of aggression posed by North Korea
Most Important Priorities for South Korea
The Republic of South Korea has to be very objective if at all it is to effectively deal with the situation that has come as a result of the attack by North Korean on Yonpyong Island which occurred on November 23rd. in this regard the policy briefing presented in this paper has two main objectives that would adequately help The Republic of South Korea in optimally solving the issue at hand.
The very first objective that The Republic of South Korea should have on the table is to ensure that the 5 party talk members are all unified and have a common voice in regard to the specific conditions that ought to be met by North Korea. This is a very important aspect of the whole process since without any form of agreement in as far as the outcome of the talks that the 5 party members have, there would be no step made in ensuring that optimal leverage against the Northern Korea is formed (Snyder, 2009). The Republic of South Korea should therefore ensure that strategic measures are out in place so that the entire 5 party members share in a common agreement as far as the conditions to be met by North Korea before any 6 party member talks are started off. By realizing this prime objective, The Republic of South Korea will therefore be very much advantage in having no nations among the party members engage in any kind of negotiations prior to North Korea fulfilling eh agreement that was reached according to the recommendations that were made by Russia and china.
Apart form ensuring that the 5 party members are all in agreement towards the direction that ought to be followed by North Korea, The Republic of South Korea should work out means to ensure that it gunners more strength and voice in the 5 party talks. It is very clear that currently, the United States accompanied by china form the controlling link within the 5 party talks. This is not a very comfortable bargaining position for The Republic of South Korea to be in. in an effort to ensure that it is having its interests as a priority within the 5 party talks; The Republic of South Korea should consider concentrating more power around itself (Snyder, 2009). This can be done by The Republic of South Korea involving in aggressive relations with each of the party members and displaying recognizable leadership traits. This would lead the other members within the 5 party to accord The Republic of South Korea more powers.
South Korea’s Position towards North Korea
It is very clear form the position that has already been presented by The Republic of South Korea that not any form of dialogue can be tolerated between it and North Korea till full commitment is indicated by North Korea towards denuclearization. The current leadership and administration in The Republic of South Korea has been very categorical of the fact that the spreading brinkmanship attitude that is being posed by North Korea can not at all be tolerated. This fact does not at all belittle the fact that the position of grand bargain that has been taken by The Republic of South Korea can not be effectively sustained in an effort to solve the emerging problems between the two states. The grand bargain is very clear that The Republic of South Korea is very much ready to dialogue with North Korea but only after the country has convincingly indicated a level of commitment towards moving away form its aggressive acts (Snyder, 2009).
In support of the position above, The Republic of South Korea has coupled its efforts using the sanction move that is to deprive North Korea of any assistance and humanitarian activities till they heed to the required code of conduct. As a matter of fact, it is under the Resolution 1874 that the United Nations Security Council decided to impose sanctions on North Korea. This effort is not at all intended to cripple the economy in North Korea as it is already doing but it is simply aimed at ensuring that the required denuclearization in North Korea is achieved. The growing rates of economic and political hardships in North Korea have been attributed to the sanctions that the nation is facing currently. Recognizing the impact that this kind of strategy may have towards the end result of the talks, The Republic of South Korea has also thrown in its sanctions and it has totally withdrawn any form of humanitarian assistance previously offered to North Korea. Following the Yongpyong incident, The Republic of South Korea has been very clear that no any form of relief food or any form of help would be offered in times of calamities. This is made very clear under the context that assistance is ready to be offered by The Republic of South Korea as soon as North Korea indicates levels of compliance with the set standards.
South Korea’s Position towards China
It is not only from The Republic of South Korea that china ought to be urged to mount significant pressure on North Korea but the entire global fraternity is doing this. As a matter of fact, The Republic of South Korea should have the prime intent of urging china to formally criticize North Korea of it sanctions in a direct manner rather than the soft and potent style that they are using.
The above position that has been grounded on the fact that china happens to be the country that is deemed to have greatest influence over North Korea among all other nations. As a consequence of this, it can be deducted that china is a very powerful tool in ensuring that the talks between North Korea and The Republic of South Korea are brokered for progress (Ong, 2009). The Republic of South Korea could therefore take advantage of this scenario by talking china into dropping the neutral position that it has consistently taken in regard to the issues affecting the relations between the two countries. Trade relations and cultural linkages between china and North Korea can also be used by The Republic of South Korea to convince china into playing a more active role in shaping the relations between North Korea and The Republic of South Korea that is in tatters (Sutter, 2008).
South Korea’s Policy Coordination with the US
The Joint Vision statement that was as a result of a foundation based on mutual trust coupled with shared values has helped a great deal in ensuring that The Republic of South Korea and the United States of America form a very tight bond. The tie that the two nations have under the Korea-Us Free Trade Agreement is just but a demonstration of how strong the two nations are bonding up to form an ally (Richardson, 2010). It is from such kind of mutual understanding that The Republic of South Korea should optimally take advantage of. As a matter of fact, The Republic of South Korea would be better positioned if at all it persuaded the United States into lending it military support to combine with its own so that an effective force is created enough to intimidate or scare away any military confrontations from North Korea. This would be a very effective means by which The Republic of South Korea would use to lure North Korea into the agreement that it has for a long time gone against.
Conclusion
As has been indicated all through the paper, it is very important that in any of the strategies that is adopted by The Republic of South Korea the main issue to put into consideration is that no compromise whatsoever should be offered on the main ground by The Republic of South Korea (Jonsson, 2009). This would be more effectively achieved if at all The Republic of South Korea is very aggressive in exploiting the relations that it shares with not only the United States but also china. The two nations would offer a soft way towards the so much desired resolution.