N. Korean Saber-Rattling Over Sea Battle Lacks Edge

South Koreans were doused with hot and cold running rhetoric Thursday as North Korea first announced that it was suspending contacts with the South but then said it would not expel southerners from its capital, Pyongyang.

And although North Korea continued to berate the South over Tuesday’s sinking of two of its warships, it did nothing to scuttle key talks with South Korea scheduled for Monday in Beijing.

North Korea’s seemingly contradictory behavior was interpreted by many observers in Seoul as a sign that economic desperation outweighs the North’s desire for revenge. South Korea has promised 200,000 tons of fertilizer to the hungry, cash-strapped North in exchange for Pyongyang permitting reunions of some families separated after the 1945 partition of the Korean peninsula.

About 100,000 tons of fertilizer have already been sent--including one ship that left South Korea just a day after the naval battle--and another 100,000 will follow if a deal for the visits materializes in Beijing.

Meanwhile, the U.S. was rushing two guided-missile cruisers and four surveillance airplanes toward the peninsula to prevent any escalation of military conflict.

South Korean President Kim Dae Jung, under fierce attack from hawkish opponents for his “appeasement” of North Korea, said the deployment demonstrates U.S. support for his “sunshine policy,” which aims to engage the North while keeping a strong military deterrent.

“The sunshine policy has two sides,” Kim said. “If North Korea pursues reconciliation and cooperation, we’ll respond in kind, but we will not allow provocation.”

Seoul scored a lopsided victory in the naval battle, sinking two northern boats and damaging five others. As many as 30 North Koreans are believed to have died, while only one South Korean boat was damaged and seven southern sailors slightly injured. The recovering South Korean sailors said in military debriefings that the North Korean troops looked small and thin, and pelted the South Koreans with rocks, dried radishes, shoes and empty bottles before eventually opening fire, according to media reports.

President Kim said the victory has improved both military morale and public confidence in the country’s armed forces. “It also serves to eliminate any worries that the government is neglecting national security in favor of the engagement policy,” Kim said.