hankyoreh

The ruling Grand National Party’s stance on North Korea policy is even harder than that of the government these days. Looking at what GNP lawmakers have said about North Korea over the past several days, it is thought that the ruling party might be giving up on efforts to restore relations with the North. Even if differences in policy direction and ideology were admitted, we would have no choice but to question the GNP about whether it is appropriate for the ruling party in charge of the national administration to have made comments indicating that it doesn’t care about inter-Korean relations.

GNP Chairman Park Hee-tae said, “The June 15 Joint Statement (which Park may have mistakenly referred to instead of the October 4 Declaration) by former President Roh Moo-hyun is full of unreliable and exaggerated pledges.” The comment virtually denied the meaning of the October 4 Declaration reached at the inter-Korean summit of 2007 and takes a firmer stance than that of the government. After the U.S. Democratic Party won the presidential election, most GNP officials said that even though the administration had changed, there would be no change in its foreign policy. In spite of rhetoric indicating that they think other nations should be consistent with their foreign policy, why is the GNP neglecting the summit accord reached under the previous administration? And still they outwardly claim to be attempting reconciliation and restoring trust in inter-Korean relations. If the GNP were honest enough to confess that its policy toward North Korea is one of confrontation, the ruling party would at least not be criticized for being two-faced.

What’s worse, Rep. Chung Doo-un of the GNP, who is one of President Lee Myung-bak’s close aides, said, “Unless the Suryong (Supreme Leader) system in North Korea changes, any efforts to resolve inter-Korean problems will be an attempt to find a fish in a tree.” The comment echoes the ideas about overhauling the North Korean regime pursued by neoconservatives under the George W. Bush administration. The Bush administration, which was going to stick to its policy of not negotiating with North Korea unless the Kim Jong-il regime changed, changed its stance when its term was nearing its end. But the consequences of the policy were the North Korean nuclear crisis and the isolation of the United States. We feel frustrated because core GNP officials have argued that the government should learn something from that failed policy.

Behind the GNP’s hawkish stance is its own political purpose. It appears to have a clear-cut policy toward North Korea so as to join forces with the conservatives. These are actions typical of the administration and the ruling party. So, too, are the administration’s politics, education, North Korea policy and investigations. In the face of an unprecedented economic crisis, their strategy seems to be to gain short-term political interests at the expense of a split in public opinion. They need to face up to reality. The GNP’s duty is to encourage the government to set up a bipartisan policy on North Korea and help the government push for that policy by being thorough in gathering the opinions of the people.

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