North and South Korea on journey to 'new normal' after recent dustup
World
North and South Korea on journey to ‘new normal’ after recent dustup
Of the many adjectives used to describe North and South Korean relations, “normal” is one that rarely, if ever, crops up. The complex and volatile nature of the divided Korean Peninsula are very far from ordinary, subject to wild mood swings between two countries that have technically been at war for the past 60 years. But an agreement the two sides reached this week may be the beginning of a “new normal." Under the terms, Seoul switched off loudspeakers blasting propaganda messages across the border after the North expressed regret over recent mine blasts that maimed two South Korean soldiers.
Instead of defining any specific case as abnormal now, I think we would seek to apply the term when a certain situation arises.
Defense Minister Han Min-Goo
With the South pushing for a North Korean undertaking to avoid acts of provocation in the future, both sides settled for a formula stating that the loudspeakers would remain unplugged "unless an abnormal case occurs.” While the “abnormal” clause in the agreement may be willfully imprecise, it doesn’t necessarily follow that it is impractical or toothless. Government officials have suggested it would be reserved for situations where lives have actually been taken or directly threatened. The focus, in that case, would seem to be on border incidents rather than grandstanding events like rocket launches or nuclear tests.
