Talking to Kim Jong Il

Wall Street Journal
Tuesday, July 15, 2008

So the Bush Administration wants to do a nuclear deal with North Korea. For a reminder of the nature of the regime it's doing business with, look no further than the latest spat between Pyongyang and Seoul over the death of a South Korean tourist, who was gunned down Friday by North Korean soldiers.

The circumstances surrounding the death of Park Wang-ja, a housewife vacationing at the North Korean resort of Mount Kumgang, are unclear. The 53-year-old was reportedly walking on a beach when a soldier shot her twice: in the chest and in the buttocks. Pyongyang says Ms. Park had wandered into a restricted military zone. It is refusing to allow South Korean officials to verify this claim or investigate the matter.

The murder of its citizen by the military of a foreign power creates a diplomatic challenge for any government. No less so in Seoul, where President Lee Myung-bak assumed office in February on a pledge to take a tougher stance with Pyongyang.

His immediate reaction upon hearing of the killing Friday was to go ahead with a parliamentary speech calling for the resumption of "full dialogue between the two Koreas." Yesterday his Grand National Party called for direct talks with the North to smooth things over.

Pyongyang responded to the Lee government's low-key reaction with its usual subtlety. The President's proposal was "deceitful," it said, and the GNP's call for talks was "an intolerable insult."

As for an apology – which the speaker of the South's National Assembly had the temerity to suggest was due – forget about it. Rather, the North is demanding an apology from the South for suspending tourist traffic to Mount Kumgang in the wake of the killing.

Mr. Lee's new government is already under political stress for its decision to resume U.S. beef imports, which had been suspended in 2003 over fears of mad cow disease. Thousands of South Koreans have taken to the streets in protests in recent weeks. Yesterday Parliament initiated an inquiry into the deal Mr. Lee struck with Washington.

In the U.S., the Bush Administration has announced its intention to remove North Korea from the list of terror-sponsoring states in return for the North's promise to dismantle its nuclear program. The killing of a middle-aged female tourist, and Pyongyang's feverish refusal to apologize or admit any responsibility, shows how much the world can rely on its promise.