EU Ambassador to Korea Gerhard Sabathil said that Korea is EU’s “closest strategic partner in Asia,” having triple compacts of the EU-Korea free trade agreement, the Framework Agreement and the pending agreement on crisis management.

Emphasizing that the EU has continually urged the North to forgo its weapons of mass destruction program and return to the six-party talks and other negotiations, Sabathil said Europe would maintain bilateral and multilateral channels of “critical dialogue,” with the key objective of improving the country’s dire human rights situation.

“Our approach to North Korea has been one of ‘critical engagement,’ which means that we maintain a diplomatic relationship but we do so in a critical way, raising issues and presenting our views plain and clear,” British Ambassador Charles Hay said.

“We have scaled back our contact with the regime, following our Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond’s condemnation immediately after the test.”

The U.K., Germany, Sweden, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania and the Czech Republic have embassies in Pyongyang, albeit under difficult conditions stemming from frequent power cuts and severe restrictions on movement, according to media sources. 

Answering a question by German Ambassador Rolf Mafael, who asked how the nuclear test would affect Seoul’s cooperative initiatives with Pyongyang, Na said that social and cultural programs would be halted for some time, although the Gaesong Industrial Complex will continue to operate with participating South Korean companies.

She added, responding to a question by Romanian Ambassador Calin Fabian: “Setting up a mid-term goal to rein in Pyongyang’s nuclear program would be more a more realistic option, bearing in mind our ultimate aim of dismantling their nuclear arsenal.”

In response to Bulgarian Ambassador Petar Andonov’s question about possible policy moderation regarding the North from President Park Geun-hye administration, Na underscored that “no fundamental change” would occur in Seoul’s peninsular trust-building process, although the “speed” of engagement and “direction” of policy might be reevaluated.

Regarding China’s cooperation and practical ways to secure its leverage, which Irish Ambassador Aingeal O’Donoghue asked, Na conceded: “Altering China’s position is difficult. However, if Beijing realizes that the North’s nuclear brinksmanship threatens the peace and stability of not only the Korean Peninsula, but that of entire Northeast Asia, it will join forces more actively. The talk of developing military nuclear capacity within South Korea has surfaced from our ruling party.”

Rep. Kim Se-yeon, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, underlined that the Korean government has felt “disappointment” over Beijing’s apparent lack of action beyond verbal denouncement; the possibility of setting up Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, as “the last measure of security and self-protection,” should be discussed, he said.

By Joel Lee (joel@heraldcorp.com)