FROM EIR DAILY ALERT

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Seoul May Lift Sanctions Imposed on North Korea after 2010 Warship Sinking

Oct. 10, 2018 (EIRNS)—South Korea is considering the removal of sanctions that were imposed on North Korea after the March 2010 sinking of South Korean corvette Cheonan, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha has stated. “We are currently considering [the matter] in consultation with a related [government] agency,” Kang said during a parliamentary audit of her ministry, according to AP.

These sanctions, referred to as the May 24 measures, shut down all cross-border economic cooperation except for a jointly run factory park in the North Korean border town of Kaesong, which itself was closed in February 2016 by former President Park Geun-hye, after a North Korean nuclear test and long-range rocket launch. The “May 24 measures” of 2010 also banned North Korea from using shipping lanes in South Korean territory. North Korea has always denied it was responsible for the attack.

“Many parts of the May 24 measures now duplicate with the United Nations sanctions” against North Korea, Kang said.

“As negotiations continue to improve ties between the South and North and achieve denuclearization, there’s a need to flexibly review (lifting the measures) as long as it doesn’t damage the larger framework of sanctions against the North.”

Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea expert at Seoul’s Dongguk University and a policy advisor to South Korean President Moon Jae-in told AP:

“For North Korea, the most meaningful result from the lifting of the May 24 measures would be that its ships will be able to travel through Jeju Strait again,”

said Koh, referring to waters between South Korea’s mainland and the southern island of Jeju. “This will allow them to save time and fuel.”