South Asia Security Monitor: No. 235

April 18:

The regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has once again moved to expel U.S. nuclear monitors. According to the Washington Times, the move comes in response to criticism by the UN Security Council over the DPRK's recent satellite launch/missile test. The ouster, which leaves Pyongyang's nuclear facilities without effective oversight, casts serious doubt on the future of the Six Party Talks.


April 19:

Amid bluster about restarting its nuclear program, Pyongyang has called for high level commercial dialogue with Seoul. The Wall Street Journal reports that Pyongyang is interested in developing a joint industrial project on its common border with South Korea. The facility, which already provides significant income to the North Korean regime, would serve as the centerpiece of the first significant dialogue between Seoul and Pyongyang in a year. The move comes on the heels of a warning from the North to the South to refrain from joining the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), lest South Korea's participation be seen as a "a declaration of undisguised confrontation and a declaration of a war" against North Korea. Seoul has held observer status at the PSI since 2003.


April 21:

As the longest war in Asia rages on, civilian are making a mass exodus from the final battlefield where Sri Lankan soldiers have cornered the Tamil Tigers. According to Reuters, U.S. officials believe the Sri Lankan government's war on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has reached a "decisive point," but there is concern about the safety of civilians in the war zone. Some 62,000 people have already been displaced due to the fighting. The LTTE have refused requests to surrender, and called upon the international community to help impose a temporary ceasefire, claiming Sri Lankan troops have killed over 1,000 civilians in their attacks. Sri Lanka's military, however, has rejected outright any halt to the fighting and denied the deployment of a special British envoy to the country, citing that the Tigers would only use a lull in the fighting to rearm.


April 22:

Maoist rebels in India have committed a series of attacks as part of their efforts to disrupt India's general election. The Washington Post reports that 300 Maoists boarded and hijacked a train carrying 500 passengers to a remote region of Jharkhand state, holding the driver at gunpoint. A local government official said no passengers were harmed in the hijacking, and the rebels fled a few hours after arriving at the station. In separate attacks, Maoists blew up a train station, a health center and school building. India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has identified Maoist violence as the largest internal security threat in India.


April 24:

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has visited North Korea to encourage Pyongyang to rejoin the stalled Six Party Talks over its nuclear program, and to discuss the recent rocket launch carried out by the North in defiance of international demands. According to Reuters, Lavrov came with a curious peace offer; the Russian foreign minister reportedly told DPRK officials that "Russia is willing to send the North's satellites into space in line with the similar cooperation deal it has with the South."