[Editorial] Unification institute official’s destructive comments

Posted on : 2008-09-25 12:32 KST Modified on : 2008-09-25 12:32 KST

Suh Jae-jean, head of the state-funded Korea Institute for National Unification went to a seminar at Seoul National University’s Institute for Peace and Unification Studies on September 23 and said ever so strangely that the government of North Korea is an “extremely abnormal and mistaken regime” and that “talking to it is no use.” This is someone who was deeply involved in developing presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak’s policy on the North called “Vision 3000,” and as a member of Lee’s presidential transition committee was an adviser on security and foreign affairs. The Lee administration has much responsibility to bear for putting someone of such questionable basic qualifications in the position Suh holds, no matter what he did in getting the administration off the ground.

As he spoke, Suh did nothing but make baseless claims about the North and reveal his hostile views towards it. “National Defence Commission Chairman Kim Jong-il will not last long,” he said. “Therefore, unification is within the range of visibility.” He took the exact opposite approach as the administration, which at least lately has been more prudent when discussing the matter of Kim’s health. About the Gaeseong (Kaesong) Industrial Complex he said there was “tricky use of corporate financial assistance” and that while individual companies might profit, “as far as the country is concerned it has failed to bring in dollars and has taken away South Korean jobs.” It would be no different than just saying we should break off relations completely.

The Korea Institute for National Unification was established in 1991 as the Cold War was coming to an end as a research and analysis institute “to build the national capacity to bring about a community of the Korean people and take an active and leading approach to changes in the environment for unification.” Suh also has, as the head of a state institution, a constitutional obligation to work for peaceful unification. Shortly after he assumed his position there last month, however, he caused a controversy when he told reporters that it would be “considerably advantageous for Korean unification to have the Kim Jong-il regime quickly replaced.”

This was not the first time the unrealistic views of North Korea held by people associated with the Lee Myung-bak administration have become a problem. Such was the case with Nam Joo-hong, who was chosen to be unification minister before public outcry led to his nomination being withdrawn, and such was the case with Hong Kwan-hee, who had initially been chosen to head the Unification Education Center. These were men who call for the North’s collapse and who say the June 15 Joint Statement was an “act advantageous to the enemy.” These latest comments from Suh are more of the same.

Speaking at a regional meeting of the National Unification Advisory Council on September 23, President Lee proposed to the North that the two sides engage in widespread dialogue based on the spirit of existing inter-Korean agreements like the June 15 and October 4 declarations. Indeed, his administration’s North Korea policy has evolved to the point where it talks about mutual prosperity and coexistence. But the administration needs to realize that with people like Suh saying the things they have been lately, progress in inter-Korean relations is going to remain something off in the distance.

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