hankyoreh

For the first time since companies began operations in the Kaesong (Gaeseong) Industrial Complex in 2005, a company has decided to leave. It has been reported that other companies have been thinking about moving their production equipment south or to Southeast Asia. One reason cited is the issue of the South Korean Hyundai Asan employee who has been detained by North Korea for two and a half months, and the South Korean government does not even know where he is being held. This is where inter-Korean relations presently stand.

The current crisis facing the Kaesong Industrial Complex is a North-South joint project. North Korea limited the number of South Koreans who could reside at the complex in December, and in March, it blocked travel to the complex due to South Korea-U.S. military exercises. Then the detainee issue came up, and last month, the South Korean government announced its full-scale participation in the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI). As a possible confrontation between North Korea and South Korea generates potential greater conflicts, companies have become like shrimps caught up in a fight between whales. It is very possible that even if inter-Korean government working-level talks were held tomorrow, the situation would not greatly improve.

The detainee issue reveals another government failure. The only step the government has attempted to make is to connect the detainee issue to the working-level talks in Kaesong demanded by North Korea in April. It has not taken any special efforts to resolve the issue. This contrasts with U.S.’s offers to send a written apology in the name of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and a special envoy to free two women journalists who have been detained by North Korea for almost the same amount of time as the South Korean Hyundai Asan employee. For North Korea to detain a South Korean citizen without recognizing his right to legal counsel is clearly wrong, however, there is also no excuse for the South Korean government’s attitude that has diverted all blame to North Korea and has been negligent in its efforts to resolve the situation.

The Kaesong Industrial Complex and detainee issues are closely tied with inter-Korean relations, which have continued to worsen since the inauguration of the Lee Myung-bak administration. Accordingly, the solution for these two problems can appear only through efforts to improve the entirety of inter-Korean relations, and these can only improve the Oct 4 and June 15 declarations, the highest agreements between the two Koreas, are preserved. It is said, even if the South Korean government has a sincere heart for executing these two declarations, North Korea may not agree to dialogue. If this is so, it is up to President Lee to first demonstrate the clarity of his intentions.

The Kaesong Industrial Complex and detainee issue serve as touchstones for moving through the crossroads of Inter-Korean relations either towards full-scale confrontation or towards a new path. Now is the time to get beyond the microscopic and tactical approaches emphasizing a war of nerves, and once again seize the potential.

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