사진은 남측 외교관 김남식씨가,6명을 사망케한 북측의 댐방류에 대한 공식사과를 북한이 남측에 전달 했다고설명하고 있는 장면이다. 북한이 지난 월요일 5발의 단거리 미사일을 바다에 발사하는 딸국질을 계속 해대더니, 무슨 마음이 생겼는지, 지금까지의 남북관계에서 껄끄러웠던 관계를 접고 부드러운 분위기를 만들기 위한 제스처를 보내고 하더니 드디어는 북한이 아주 보기드문 '공식 사과'를 남한에 했다고 한다. 무슨 흉계를 꾸미기위해 그런 제스처를 해대고 있을까? 그런데 남한에서는 이제스처를 긍정적으로 받아 들이고, 이제까지 단절 시켰던 원조를 재개할 조짐이 보이고 있다. 한편 평양에서는 Billy Graham 목사의 아들 Franklin Graham 목사의 이북 방문을 환영하고 있으며, 그가 가져온 선물에 신경을 쏟고 있다고 한다. 이북의 또 다른 농간에 넘어가지 않았으면 하는 생각이 간절하다. 지금까지 남측이 주장해 왔던 6자회담 복귀와 핵완전 제거가 확인 될때 까지는 이 명박 정부는 절대로 정책을 바꾸어서는 안될것으로 믿어진다. What's Gotten Into N. Korea? A Recent Spate of Friendly Gestures May Signal New Priorities Kim Nam-sik, a South Korean diplomat, says the North expressed regret for a water discharge that killed six. (By Choi Woo-jung -- Yonhap News Agency Via Associated Press) By Blaine Harden Washington Post Foreign Service Thursday, October 15, 2009 SEOUL, Oct. 14 - There have been hiccups, such as the five missiles it fired into the sea on Monday, but North Korea seems unusually focused this fall on smoothing feathers that it ruffled earlier in the year. The government of Kim Jong Il has made an unusual effort this week to be conciliatory with South Korea, a U.S. donor and families split between the two Koreas. A North Korean delegation expressed "regrets" Wednesday that a discharge of water from a northern dam created a downstream flood that last month killed six South Koreans. The statement of "deep condolences" to the families of the dead, which the South Korean government regarded as an apology, came during a meeting near the border to discuss improved management of river flows between the two countries. South Korea welcomed the statement, saying that it sends a "fairly positive signal" that North Korea wants to improve relations, a government spokesman said. Meanwhile in Pyongyang, North Korea's foreign minister met with the son of evangelist Billy Graham in what the state's official news agency described as an "amicable atmosphere." The Rev. Franklin Graham, head of a private relief agency, said he traveled to Pyongyang this week in an attempt to build "a bridge for better relations" between the United States and North Korea. Last spring, the North kicked U.S. relief organizations out of the country and stopped accepting shipments of U.S. government food aid. Also last spring, North Korea launched a long-range ballistic missile, detonated a nuclear device and declared that it would never again participate in six-nation nuclear disarmament talks. Its behavior triggered tough U.N. sanctions that several South Korean experts said are squeezing the North's ability to profit from the sale of missiles and other weapons. The North's cycle of provocation seemed to end in August, when it released two imprisoned American journalists and reopened its border with the South. Korea's propaganda machine has stopped making regular threats of "all-out war" against its neighbors. Instead, Kim suggested last week that his country would be willing to resume international arms talk, if it could first hold talks with the United States. In another signal of changed priorities, North Korea's largest newspaper called Wednesday for better ties with South Korea. Those ties have been severely strained since the 2007 election of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who stopped aid and economic development programs for the North, until it agrees to get rid of its nuclear weapons. In a commentary, the newspaper said "it is the unwavering will of our republic to proactively realize reconciliation, unity, cooperation and exchanges according to the joint declarations" between North and South Korea. Nearly two years ago, Pyongyang cut off reunions for families separated by the Korean War. But in September it allowed them to resume. The two countries plan to meet Friday to schedule more reunions.