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"I think we're also looking for a clear and demonstrable commitment on the part of the North Koreans to fulfill their commitments," he said. Analysts disagree on whether that is likely, and what impact political changes in North Korea will have. Last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's youngest son, Kim Jong Un, was promoted to top military and ruling party posts, signaling he is in line to succeed his ailing father. "The two Koreas are currently searching for ways to relieve military tensions on the Korean peninsula," said Kim Yong-hyun, an expert on North Korea at Seoul's Dongguk University. "Pyongyang hasn't openly apologized for the sinking of the Cheonan but they have brought up holding reunions and discussing the possibility of resuming the joint tour venture. These are reconciliatory measures." But Baek Seung-joo of the state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses in Seoul said North Korea's government has repeatedly created a mood of apparent reconciliation to gain concessions from other nations, while pushing ahead with its nuclear program and fostering a sense of external threat to unify its people behind it. "Pyongyang cannot help but deceive the world by acting as if it will give up its nuclear weapons when it won't," Baek said. "The North Korean system will collapse unless tensions are kept high to maintain internal solidarity."
[Associated
Press;
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