hankyoreh

The chairman’s statement from the ASEAN Regional Forum in Singapore made mention of the October 4 Inter-Korean Summit Declaration and the shooting of a South Korean tourist at Mount Geumgang. At first glance, it seems like a simple record of the claims of both North and South Korea, but if you look at the actual document that is not the case. It says the foreign ministers “strongly support the continued development of inter-Korean dialogue based on” the October 4 Declaration, while in referring to the incident at Mount Geumgang, it says only that they hope for an “early resolution.” The October 4 Declaration has been given more weight.

North and South Korea went about an intense diplomatic offensive at this meeting of foreign ministers from 27 countries. The campaigning by North and South was like it was back during the Cold War era. It just cannot look good in the eyes of other countries for the two to be arm wrestling on the international stage over issues between them. They also hurt their ability to speak up about other issues on the forum’s agenda because they were so busy promoting their own claims against each other. This kind of behavior must not continue.

The chairman’s statement was produced in such an atmosphere and well reveals how the international community looks at inter-Korean issues. Put simply, the message is that the Mount Geumgang incident needs to be looked at within the larger framework of progress in inter-Korean relations. That is exactly right. The incident itself was mostly an accidental occurrence in character, and the way everything unfolded afterwards is a projection of the state of relations, which is why we have to seek a resolution within the overall advancement of the relationship. The key to that will be having the determination to carry out the October 4 Declaration.

On July 11 President Lee Myung-bak went before the National Assembly and proposed a complete resumption of inter-Korean dialogue. He was essentially saying that he was ready to have serious discussion on how to proceed with implementing the existing agreements between North and South Korea, including the October 4 Declaration and the June 15 Joint Declaration. That was a step forward from his previous position, which was pretty much about ignoring the two documents. The October 4 Declaration, however, was the biggest product of the two inter-Korean summits and was signed by the leaders of each side, so dialogue is not going to go forward if you mix the October 4 Declaration in with all the previous agreements the two sides had between them. Lee’s position, then, can only be interpreted as him wanting to start dialogue again from where both sides were way before the October 4 declaration was made.

If Seoul really wants a complete resumption of inter-Korean dialogue, then it needs to make it far more clear that it wants to carry out the October 4 Declaration. The document provides for dialogue between various responsible authorities on both sides, and Pyongyang’s demands focus on the declaration’s being carried out. Thus, there is no reason why there would not be dialogue and why the Mount Geumgang incident would not be resolved once it has been reaffirmed that Seoul wants to see the October 4 Declaration through. Conversely, focusing solely on the Mount Geumgang incident will only complicate resolution of the incident and could most likely make relations worse.

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