hankyoreh

The U.S.-South Korea summit held on Sept. 7 in Australia was significant in that it reaffirmed the intention of South Korea and the United States to work together in step with the new political situation on the Korean peninsula and Northeast Asia. The two nations expanded their shared understanding about the effort to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue and build a peace regime for the Korean peninsula, and they did so with the next round of six-party talks and the inter-Korean summit just around the corner. What this means is that the two countries have initiatives that are not all that different, in terms of immediate problems, as well as strategies for the peninsula and the region, well beyond the end of the year.

Most notable about the summit was U.S. President George W. Bush’s profoundly new position. He said, on the premise that Pyongyang abandons its nuclear plans, that a new Northeast Asian peace regime could be established, a comment referring to a slightly more advanced kind of peace regime than the signing of an “end of hostilities declaration” spoken about earlier. This indicates that there will be earnest discussions about a wide-ranging peace regime within the year if Pyongyang carries out the Feb. 13 agreement in good faith. Of course this also presents an opportunity to, at the inter-Korean summit, take the basic framework of discussion of a peace regime and use it to speed up the pace of resolving the nuclear issue.

One also hopes that through the U.S.-Korea summit, there is also a heightened American understanding of the justified need to advance inter-Korean relations. It is indeed a fact that the nuclear issue defines the larger framework of relations between North and South Korea, but it is also a fact that relations between North and South influence the pace of resolving the nuclear issue and relations between North Korea and the United States. Inter-Korean relations have a domain of their own, in substantially backing up the effort to build a peace regime for the peninsula and region and in building the basis for Korean reunification. U.S. strategy towards the peninsula and region that does not consider progress in inter-Korean relations would be unrealistic.

At the Sino-Korean summit held in Sydney ahead of the U.S.-Korea summit, it was most notable that both China and Korea agreed to further develop their discussions about peace on the Korean peninsula and regional multi-party security cooperation, because even if North and South Korea are the primary parties concerning discourse on a peace regime for the peninsula, cooperation from the United States and China is essential.

It is disappointing that this week’s working-level talks between Japan and North Korea on normalizing ties came to an end without having produced much in the way of results. Japan remained preoccupied with the issue of abducted citizens. It was at least fortunate that both sides took a more relaxed stance than their previous hard-line approaches, in deciding to continue their discussions.

The eyes of the world are focused on the six-party talks set to begin soon. Of basic importance will be making a well-structured timetable for disabling North Korean nuclear facilities and implementing commensurate measures. There also needs to be a certain level of agreement about the direction of the six-party talks next year and what each participating nation needs to be doing in order to advance its cause.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]