Subscribe
E-Paper
Time to fully brace for all possible contingencies
Monday's assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the exiled half-brother of North Korea's young leader, leaves room for questions. Given that he has hardly posed an existential threat to Kim Jong-un, Pyongyang appears to have had no reason to kill him, particularly now.
What is almost certain is that the North was behind the killing and that the decision to get rid of his elder brother was made by the young dictator. Malaysian police reportedly arrested a second woman Thursday following its detention of a first suspect a day earlier. There are high expectations that the whole picture behind the killing will be uncovered soon.
Unsurprisingly, the assassination has displayed the brutality of the Kim Jong-un regime to the world once again. According to Seoul's National Intelligence Service, North Korea has tried to kill Kim Jong-nam, the first son of the North's late leader Kim Jong-il, for five years. He sent a letter to his half-brother in Pyongyang, begging for the lives of himself and his family, but to no avail.
Even before this incident, Kim Jong-un's "reign of terror" has been proven through the execution of generals and ruling Workers' Party officials, including Jang Song-thaek, his uncle and the North's former No. 2. Our concern runs deep, given Kim's paranoia that is serious enough to kill his half-brother; there is no knowing what he will get up to next. This is why our intelligence agency and police must be on high alert against possible terrorist attacks on noted North Korean defectors, including Thae Yong-ho, the former deputy minister in the North's London embassy who defected to Seoul last year.
Ever unpredictable, Kim Jong-un appears to have ordered the brutal murder even at the risk of provoking international criticism and isolation, only one day after the reclusive state test-fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile into the East Sea. This leaves open the possibility that Pyongyang might unleash provocations at any time, and the North's nuclear and missile threats are never a bluff.
U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to deal "very strongly" with North Korea in response to the North's missile launch Sunday. Against this backdrop, tension on the Korean Peninsula will inevitably rise if Kim Jong-un continues with provocations and atrocities. Our government should be fully prepared for all possible contingencies in collaboration with the international community.
At a time when an early presidential election looms large amid the unprecedented corruption and influence-peddling scandal, the ruling and opposition parties should refrain from abusing the delicate political situation following the assassination. It's time for them to be cool-headed so that the government can tide the nation over the turbulence.
