hankyoreh

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the start of South Korean tours to North Korea’s Mount Geumgang (Kumgang). Some 1.7 million tourists, overwhelmingly South Korean, have visited the area by ship, bus and automobile since the Hyundai ship Kumgang first left port from the East Coast of South Korea in 1998. The Mount Geumgang enterprise became the stepping stone for the Gaeseong (Kaesong) Industrial Complex, and it was because of the trust forged with this enterprise that North and South were able to hold a summit the year after the battle on the West Sea in 1999. Mount Geumgang Tourism is a symbol of inter-Korean economic cooperation and pillar of peace.

One does not find comfort in this, however, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary. It has been stalled for more than four months, since the shooting death of a South Korean tourist last July, and it would be hard to even say when tours will resume. Tours have stopped four times before after “provocations” and acts of nature, but this time it is different, with the previous lapses always lasting as short as a week or only as long as about 60 days. The main reason for the current situation is the hard-line tone of the Lee Myung-bak administration’s North Korea policy. As long as it continues to essentially disregard the October 4 and June 15 Declarations, tours to Gaeseong and the Gaeseong Industrial Complex could be suspended as well. We are in the biggest crisis in inter-Korean relations since tours to Mount Geumgang began.

Such is the situation, and still the administration is as irresponsible as can be. Meeting with Korean journalists stationed in Washington, D.C., he said that there has been “thorough cooperation” between Seoul and Washington “since there was a change of government in Seoul.” He said the North “should not work with the closed thinking that involves communicating with the U.S. while severing ties with Seoul.” By the tone of it, you get the impression he is going to place grater emphasis on relations with the United States, regardless of what happens with the inter-Korean relationship. Just a few days ago he said that in North-South relations, “waiting is a strategy.” That kind of approach could easily make relations worse and end up making Seoul dependent on the United States. That, in turn, actually leads to poor relations between Seoul and Washington, too. Such was the experience during the Kim Young-sam administration.

The Lee Myung-bak administration’s North Korea policy is going down the road of failure and has nothing to show for itself. A structure of peace and cooperation corresponding to progressed inter-Korean relations needs to be in place to support the resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue, but instead we have inter-Korean relations made subordinate to the nuclear issue, causing a significant reversal of previous accomplishments. The contradictions of the inter-Korean relationship will only grow bigger if the U.S. administration of Barack Obama makes progress in negotiations on the nuclear issue and on normalizing ties between Washington and Pyongyang. It is fantasy to think Pyongyang will suddenly come crawling back to Seoul at that point.

Companies involved in inter-Korean business cooperation are suffering more and more. The economic loss to the South because of the suspension of tours to Mount Geumgang is said to have already surpassed W100 billion. The limits of the Lee administration’s North Korea policy made themselves apparent long ago. The best thing to do at this point would be to quickly recognize the mistakes and make changes.

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