Seoul olive branch a switch for itself

North Korea continues to turn a cold shoulder to a series of rapprochement overtures by the administration of President Moon Jae-in, who was elected with a pledge to achieve reconciliation and peace. The North’s attitude calls on Moon and his aides to be patient and rethink their strategy.

Patience and rethinking are necessary mainly because North Korea has consistently ignored all the olive branches held out by Moon since he took office in early May — offers of humanitarian aid, an invitation to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics and, most recently, proposals for military and Red Cross talks.

The proposals for military talks for halting hostile activities like propaganda broadcasts across the border and Red Cross talks for family reunions came in line with the reconciliatory initiative Moon outlined during a visit to Berlin earlier in July. The two recent proposals revealed Moon’s impatience to follow up on his Berlin initiative and, more importantly, his lack of strategy.

The defence ministry made the proposal for inter-Korean military talks on July 17, setting July 21 as the date for the first meeting. The date passed with the northern side remaining silent on the proposal. Now Seoul officials say that they will wait until Thursday, the anniversary of signing the armistice agreement that ended the 1950-53 Korean War. Moon had said that he wanted the military talks to agree to end border propaganda broadcasts on the anniversary.

But it is unlikely that the North will mention the proposal itself — let alone make a positive response — by Moon’s deadline. The Moon administration is soliciting its own humiliation by setting dates for talks without knowing whether the other side will come to the table.

Diplomatic negotiation should be the most viable means to resolve the North Korean crisis, but the Seoul government needs to take a more prudent approach. Seoul, July 24.