hankyoreh

Ministerial-level talks between North and South Korea ended Friday, the first inter-Korean dialogue since the recent agreement at the six-party talks. These ministerial-level meetings were a demonstration of both the possibilities and potential limitations that could lie ahead for the future of inter-Korean relations. The atmosphere was amicable and the joint communique at the end was relatively specific, but fell short of addressing issues regarding the future, which would have been appropriate for what was the 20th round of such talks.

Negotiators were right to agree on the most basic of humanitarian issues, resuming reunions for families separated by the border between the two sides. North and South Korea need to hurry the construction of a special facility for reunions at Mount Geumgang (Kumgang) so that reunions can be regular events. Though not something that was specified in the joint communique, it would also be natural to resume rice and fertilizer aid to the North. Instead of rushing to give aid after taking time to decide on exactly how much to give, providing urgently needed aid while taking the urgency of the North’s situation into account would be better, as well as aid that helps the North provide for itself by helping it in the production sector. When the South gives aid to the North, the act bears a lot of influence on the international community, so aid should begin in earnest before the hardest season of hunger arrives.

The talks got only as far as rehashing what had been agreed at previous inter-Korean meetings but never implemented. The most important among those agreements was the cross-border rail links, with trial runs rescheduled to begin in the first half of this year. Preliminary tests must not be delayed or shelved for a "lack of military guarantees" any longer. The communique also lacked any mention of cooperation on light industry and the development of underground resources. Talks on economic cooperation are scheduled for April 18, and it is hoped that there will be concentrated discussion about diverse programs for economic cooperation then and at other forums in the future.

It is regrettable that there was also no specific agreement on the other main topic for these talks; namely, military concerns and peace. Just as the South has linked aid for North Korea to the North’s carrying out of the agreement arrived at in February’s round of the six-party talks, the North seems to be linking rice and fertilizer aid to the holding of talks on military issues. Neither approach is a desirable one. At this most recent round of inter-Korean talks, the North called for "the abolition of all legal and institutional apparatuses that act as obstacles to Korean unity," but was not as uncompromising as it might have been in the past. We think that means it was being realistic.

Progress in inter-Korean relations should lead to the formation of an economic community on the Korean peninsula and the building of a format for lasting peace and, then, ultimately to reunification. The confrontation surrounding the nuclear issue has been an obstacle all this time, so the nuclear issue and the relationship between North and South Korea have to be made to move in the right direction. This will require wider-ranging economic cooperation and frequent contact between high-ranking military and political officials. This latest round of talks with North Korea never got that far, and that is what makes the next talks and the implementation of what has been agreed upon all the more important.



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