hankyoreh

The North Korean policies of Lee Myung-bak, the main opposition Grand National Party’s presidential nominee, date back to the Korean War and have since been influenced by events either directly or indirectly related to his involvement in North Korean affairs.

During the war, Lee lost both his sister and brother. In 1987, while he was serving as the president of Hyundai Engineering and Construction, approximately 60 employees were killed in the bombing of KAL Flight 858, which was carried out by North Korean agents Kim Sung Il and Kim Hyun-hee. Since then, Lee has made the reunification of the Korean peninsula the biggest task in his life. After Lee met Mikhail Gorbachev in Moscow, with former Hyundai chairman, the late Chung Ju-young, to develop Siberia in 1992, he began to envision a set of policies for the North.

In late of June last year, just a week before the expiration of his term as Seoul mayor, Lee visited Gaeseong Industrial Complex. After making a survey of the complex, he returned to Seoul late in the day and held a press conference. “Reunification of the nation will be possible only when the per capita income reaches US$3,000 in North Korea and $30,000 in South Korea. If the North gives up its nuclear programs and opens its economy, the South will help the North so that its per capita income will rise to $3,000 within a decade.” This is the basis for the framework of Lee’s so-called Vision 3000, which aims to achieve a nuclear-free North Korea. The plan was officially announced as the first clause of the “MB Doctrine on Foreign Affairs and Security” on February 6, following a number of discussions with scholars.

The nations owning nuclear weapons have generally abandoned them and gone the way of either Ukraine or Libya. Ukraine dismantled thousands of nuclear weapons in 1991 after accepting a U.S.-proposed $1.6-billion economic aid package. In comparison, Libya gave up its nuclear weapons and established a diplomatic relationship with the United States after surrendering to an economic and political blockade surrendering to economic and political sanctions instituted by the United States and England. Ukraine focused on getting compensation, while Libya was more influenced by pressure.

Two assumptions are necessary in order to make North Korea abandon its nuclear weapons. First, the North should not worry about the safety of its regime after dismantling its nuclear programs. Second, North Korea should have a vision for its economic recovery. Unless both are satisfied, North Korea will not give up its nuclear ambitions.

Lee’s Vision 3000 is a part of a “complete and flexible approach to North Korea” and its main point is that the international community will take corresponding action if the North determines to give up its nuclear weapons. It invokes the spirit of an incentive system to induce the North to scrap its nuclear programs.

If the September 19 joint statement is completely implemented, the South can provide a comprehensive package in five sectors - the economy, education, finance, infrastructure and welfare - in order to realize Lee’s Vision 3000. For example, in the case of the economy, the South would cultivate 100 North Korean companies which could export goods worth more than $3 million.

In education, the South would assist the North by training 300,000 industrial workers and investing about $40 billion in international development fund.

If Lee’s Vision 3000 is implemented following the North’s cessation of its nuclear weapons programs, North Korea’s economy will be transformed into one that is export-driven.

Currently the North’s per capita income is about $500, and assuming that the North continues to grow at 15-20 percent annually, it can achieve $3,000 per capita income after 10 years .

In connection with economic development programs, the North can incorporate the South’s development-related know-how through cooperation with the international community. In other words, the tools and methods that have been used to catch fish in the past will be conveyed in detail in the future. If Vision 3000 is launched peace and co-prosperity will materialize on the Korean peninsula.