hankyoreh

The Presidential Office has rejected the possibility of bringing up the Northern Limit Line (NLL) during the second inter-Korea summit.
The imaginary line demarcates the division between the two Koreas in the Yellow Sea; its location is disputed by Pyongyang, and several naval clashes between North and South have occurred in recent years in waters surrounding the division.

According to Moon Jae-in, the presidential chief of staff, on September 12, the South would not be the first of the two parties to raise the problem, but if Pyongyang brings it up, Seoul can discuss the matter and will handle the problem of creating a joint fishing zone within the contested waters.

The main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) and some conservative forces, however, are raising their voices against bringing up the NLL issue at the summit, saying the North will use the situation to aim for territorial concessions from the South, maintaining the issue should not be the subject of the meeting.

There a few reasons why the North has steadily raised the NLL issue in recent years. First of all, the North wants to damage the existing cease-fire system which it thinks unfavorable. The North also wants to secure a military strategic advantage by moving the NLL further into areas currently designated as South Korean. It is pragmatic and necessary for the South to deal with the matter in an appropriate manner. The right to livelihood of nearby fishermen is at stake, and the recurrence of an incident like the naval clashes in the area in 1999 and 2002 will bring strong negative effects to the situation on the Korean peninsula.

The 1992 Basic Agreement between the two Koreas states that they will continue consultation on a nonaggression line in the sea. According to the agreement, the current nonaggression zone will be maintained until the two sides fix a demarcation line. Both making an attempt to one-sidedly change the NLL or avoiding consultation are against the inter-Korea agreement. Besides, the basic agreement requires the two Koreas to consult on matters that will build mutual military trust and move toward the realization of disarmament by forming a joint military committee to implement and guarantee nonaggression. Thus, it follows that in order to adjust the NLL, the two sides first should establish military trust. Seoul has consistently maintained such a position at inter-Korean talks.

Therefore, under the current situation, there are two things to be done in connection with the NLL. One is to weigh the approach to the NLL problem according to the progress of discussion after establishing a framework to discuss establishment of military trust and implementation of disarmament. The other is to start discussions on issues such as fishery, passage, economic cooperation, and peace management, all of which can be settled without adjusting the NLL. The upcoming summit should be instrumental in achieving these goals.