hankyoreh

For all the emphasis Seoul and Pyongyang have put on improving ties, both sides are behaving reluctantly. Though they talk about the importance of trust, it is clear they do not trust each other.

Part of the reason for this is the joint military exercises that are under way between South Korea and the US. North Korea has spent the last few days firing short-range missiles and rockets into the sea as a show of opposition. The war of nerves could keep up until the Foal Eagle field exercises end on Apr. 18. It’s time for South and North in charge to manage the situation so that these volatile ingredients don’t combine to create a full-blown crisis. The best way to handle things would be for South Korea and the US to keep their exercises as low-key as possible, and for North Korea to avoid making a provocative response.

In the meanwhile, the South Korean government made a proposal on Mar. 5 to hold working-level Red Cross talks on Mar. 12 to discuss a “fundamental resolution” to the issue of divided Korean families. One of the topics on the table would be making reunions a regular event. This plan, however, has a flaw: discussing a “fundamental resolution to the divided family issue” falls beyond the scope of a Red Cross meeting. The Red Cross is in direct charge of carrying out the reunions, but a fundamental resolution is a larger issue, one that is tied to the general state of inter-Korean relations. Also, when North and South Korean authorities agreed to the February reunions at talks on Feb. 14, they agreed to hold a new high-level meeting.

One gets the sense that Seoul deliberately made a proposal for Red Cross talks that North Korea is unlikely to accept because it actually wants to slow the dialogue process down. Indeed, Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae said on Mar. 5, “if North Korea doesn’t keep its promise to us, to put it bluntly, they get nothing.” He also said reunions would “not be about giving things [to North Korea] like they’ve been in the past.” This is not the sort of attitude that it is going to fix inter-Korean relations. Pyongyang wants tourism resumed at Mt. Keumgang. It wants the 2010 ban on trade, the so-called ‘May 24 Measures’ eased or lifted, it wants stronger economic cooperation with the South. These are things that need to be addressed if we are going to make progress in our relationship. If we are going to have responsible discussions about these things, or about easing military tensions and fundamentally resolving the divided families issue, then senior-level talks - at the vice ministerial level or higher - are the only option.

Trust isn’t something that you just demand from the other side. It’s something you make. And as the side with the richer resources and the greater range of means at its disposal, South Korea needs to take the initiative first.

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