[LETTERS TO THE EDITOR]A dodgy definition

Apparently, North Korea has a different set of vocabulary from the rest of the world (Envoy says North only needs respect, July 2). A North Korean envoy stated that as a precondition to join the six-way talks it wanted “respect.” Obviously, North Korea has a different definition for the meaning of respect. If the annual shipping of fertilizer, food and money to Pyongyang for nothing in return- doesn’t equal respect, what does it mean? If the United States’s tolerence for North Korea’s breaking of international agreements and ruthlessly threatening to target its nuclear warheads at nearby countries doesn’t mean respect, what else can the word mean? Our assignment for the time being is this: reach a common definition of respect.

by Chung Yoo-jin