hankyoreh

The UN Security Council’s adoption of a Presidential Statement on the sinking of the Cheonan has heightened the need for a change in the situation on the Korean peninsula. Now is the time to work hard to move beyond the shadow of the naval incident and resolve the fundamental structure of conflict, starting with the nuclear issue.

Under the current circumstances, it is extremely difficult to prove whether the sinking of the Cheonan was an unexpected accident or a planned attack. Moreover, the incident is becoming a source of conflict in Northeast Asian international politics. An example of this is China’s vocal opposition to the imminent joint military exercises in the Yellow Sea by South Korea and the United States. Maintaining the status quo helps no country. We must therefore step beyond the Cheonan incident and build a new framework. Provoking China through the participation of a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Yellow Sea in joint military exercises is not desirable. Strong measures against North Korea such as loudspeaker broadcasts across the Demilitarized Zone must also be abandoned.

We must now turn again to the fundamental reason for instability on the Korean peninsula: the nuclear issue. The Chinese government has already made clear its desire to swiftly wrap up the Cheonan incident and reopen the six-party talks. Two days ago, a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the country would “devote consistent effort to achieving a peace agreement and denuclearization through the six-party talks.”

Even if these attitudes from China and North Korea are influenced by tactical considerations of breaking away from Cheonan incident, reopening the six-party talks quickly is also in the interests of South Korea and the United States. If resumption of the talks is further delayed, the North Korean government will think South Korea and the United States are pushing for its collapse, and will double its efforts at nuclear development.

The Lee Myung-bak administration’s policy toward North Korea must also change. As long as dialogue between the authorities of both states remains severed, even the management of unforeseen accidents will become impossible. For basic trust between North Korea and South Korea to be restored, resumption of humanitarian support must be normalized and tourism to Mt. Kumgang, which has been suspended for two years, must be restarted as a matter of urgency.

At a more fundamental level, we must shift from a basic policy of demanding only the submission of North Korea to one of reciprocity, oriented toward the future, that embodies principles of synergy and mutual prosperity. It goes without saying that North Korea must also refrain from criticizing and provoking South Korea, and take part in efforts for peace.

The most important factor for changing the situation on the Korean Peninsula is for the South Korean government to take a leading role. Let us hope that it will waste no time in reexamining the reasons for the failure of its Cheonan diplomacy and the deterioration of inter-Korean relations to their current low ebb, and adopting new ideas and attitudes.

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