President Park Geun-hye's speech on Saturday
marking the 68th anniversary of Armed Forces
Day... is garnering a positive reaction from
the foreign press.
In an editorial, the Wall Street Journal praised
the president for her message to the North
Korean people, encouraging them to take the
path to the South... and also listed ways
to make her invitation a reality.
Song Ji-sun has more.
"We will keep the road open for you, the residents
of North Korea, to find hope and life.
Please come to the bosom of freedom in the
Republic of Korea."
In an editorial on Tuesday, The Wall Street
Journal praised President Park's message to
the North Korean people as "a better path
to regime change in Pyongyang than empty condemnations
or unenforced sanctions."
The paper said the defections from the North's
elite class reflect growing internal dissent
within the regime, and points specifically
to the defection in August of its deputy ambassador
to the U.K., Thae Yong-ho as an example.
It also said that more than half of the defectors
are now represented by the North's middle
class.
"The defections of North Korean residents,
who cannot tolerate the regime's tyranny and
starvation any longer, are on the rise, as
are defections by members of the regime's
elite class who have supported the system.
Even the North's soldiers now often desert
and plunder."
The Journal says that a stream of defectors
would weaken the regime economically and give
the North Korean people an opportunity to
know more about the outside world.
But in order to, as the paper says, "turn
this trickle into a flood," the editorial
says it's important to try and get President
Park's message through to the North Korean
people.
It also says Seoul will have to convince Beijing,
which apparently wants to ensure the North
Korean regime's survival,... to stop sending
defectors back North.
The Journal also had praise for President
Park's decision to close down the inter-Korean
Kaesong Industrial Complex,... which was ultimately
used to fund Pyongyang's weapons development
programs,... ending the late President Kim
Dae-jung's Sunshine Policy of engagement.
The editorial wrapped up by saying the ultimate
goal is liberating the North Korean people,...
saying, "Let North Koreans vote with their
feet for an end to tyranny."
Song Ji-sun, Arirang News.
