hankyoreh

Sluzhu Otechestvu Special Correspondent

By Anastasia Barannikova, Sluzhu Otechestvu Special Correspondent

On Feb. 25, President Park Geun-hye announced the creation of a special committee to prepare for unification. During the Asian Leadership Conference, held on Mar. 3-4. The development of a fund to assist the North with the support of surrounding countries and international financial organizations was announced. The fund’s objective is to raise money to cover the costs of unifying the Korean peninsula. On Mar. 28, Park made her “Dresden Declaration” on unification.

These statements themselves are not surprising, given the long-standing desire of both South and North to improve relations and reunify. Nevertheless, the fact that Park’s initiatives were voiced this year raises questions. The timing could have been conditioned by either external or internal factors. In North Korea, they were regarded with suspicion and accused of being detached from reality.

Despite the fact that this year saw the first high-level inter-Korean talks since 2007 and the first reunions of divided families since 2010, inter-Korean relations are generally not good these days. Immediately after announcing creation of a special committee, Park Geun-hye urged Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons program in the name of improving inter-Korean relations. In her Dresden declaration, Park also promised “to help North Korea” once it gives up its nukes. At the same time, Seoul is well aware of Pyongyang’s negative view of such “pre-conditions”. Nuclear weapons became a matter of pride and dignity in the North rather than a bargaining chip. Even without the US, the North would not give up its nuclear program.

The military and political situations on the Korean peninsula remain tense. At the same time as the reunions of divided families, ROK-US joint military exercises were also taking place. North Korea objects to the exercises, calling them rehearsal for invasion of its territory. Against this background, talk of unification, including Park’s comments, seems premature.

But the main obstacle to unification is the difference in the approaches of South and North to the unification process. It is believed in South Korea that the unification should be achieved in a way that not only benefits both sides, but also takes place with the involvement of neighboring countries and in cooperation with the international community. On the contrary, the North argues that unification should take place without “outside interference”. Taking issue of North-South relations to the outside is seen as a “betrayal of national interests”. The main point of the North’s position is that it was interference by external forces interference that led to the division of the Korean peninsula (in 1945, when the US and the Soviet Union signed an agreement for trusteeship by the UN). The USSR withdrew its troops from the peninsula in a timely manner, while the US maintains around 28,500 soldiers in South Korea to this day. The presence of US forces is one of the major obstacles to reunification.

As it has been for many years, the North is still faithful to the principles of the federation, which means “the existence of two different systems and governments within one nation and one state”. The 1972 Joint Communique by North and South identified the main principles of reunification - independently, without reliance on external forces, peacefully and through “great national unity”. Kim Il-sung presented the program of building unified Korea - Democratic Confederal Republic of Koryo (DKRK) - in his report to the Sixth Congress of the Worker’s Party of Korea on the Work of the Central Committee on October 10, 1980.

In April 1993, Kim Il-sung proposed another program of North and South consolidation, which, as before, provided for the creation of unified confederative state within which North and South would retain their existing systems and governments.

The North’s approach has remained unchanged until now, unlike the approach of the South. The most constructive dialogue on reunification took place under presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun (1998-2008).

Kim Dae-jung carried out the “Sunshine Policy” which followed a few main principles: no unification by absorption and that the South would separate economic and political matters and offer dialogue as a means to settle problems. The June 15th North-South Joint Declaration was signed by Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-il at an inter-Korean summit in June 2000. This Declaration reaffirmed previous agreements recorded in North-South Joint Communique of 1972 and the 1991 Basic Agreement on Reconciliation, Nonaggression, Exchanges and Cooperation Between North and South.

The two leaders reaffirmed that the problem of Korean reunification is the matter of the Koreans themselves (“who are the masters of the country”) and unification of Korea should be achieved through peaceful means. DPRK and ROK leaders also recognized the similarity of two states’ reunification concepts. These achievements had been negated by Lee Myung-bak who had taken a tough stance toward DPRK and considered reunification as creation of the “Greater Korean Republic ”.

Given the fact that unification by absorption is unacceptable for DPRK and is not perceived seriously there (which Park Geun-hye knows), the conclusion is that all the talk about the reunification are just words with no corresponding actions. It’s also empty words to call on the North to abandon its nuclear weapons. If Park Geun-hye seriously hopes to carry out unification by some miracle, she should take care to preserve the North’s nuclear weapons. In the future, a unified Korea would benefit from nuclear power status, given the complexity of relations with Japan and the necessity to expand regional and global influence.

Nevertheless, Park Geun-hye continues to set impracticable standards and Pyongyang unification under unacceptable terms, which means that her initiatives are no more than reaction to external factors or an attempt to score political points.

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