hankyoreh

On July 15, President Park Geun-hye launched the Presidential Committee for Unification Preparation. Park first indicated her intention to set up such a committee at the end of February. The committee is a huge organization, whose members include 11 government officials, with President Park as committee chair, and seven ministers. There are also six directors of government-funded public policy institutes, two chairs of policy committees from the ruling and opposition parties, and 30 private sector advisors.

In reality, setting up such a committee is not appropriate in the current situation. While the stated purpose of the committee is to make systematic preparations for the unification of the Korean peninsula, unification does not appear to be imminent enough yet to warrant creating a large organization to make such preparations. Numerous administrations have instituted policies intended to bring about reunification for dozens of years, and it is unclear exactly what kind of new preparations Park means to undertake.

This year, the Park administration has created a unification bubble, promoting the idea that unification will be a “jackpot.” Clearly, the political motivation behind launching the committee is to sustain and expand that bubble.

Nor can we easily dismiss the criticism that the committee is itself a superfluous organization, the duties of which overlap with existing organizations, including the National Unification Advisory Council, the Ministry of Unification, and the Korea Institute for National Unification. Furthermore, North Korea has expressly rejected the Dresden Declaration, Park’s plan for unification, and it is very likely that the North will view the launch of the committee as an attempt to bring about unification by absorption.

If the committee is to become meaningful in its own right despite this, it needs to choose the scope of its activity carefully, distancing itself from political considerations. First of all, it needs to quash the urge to spearhead the discussion of unification and instead put the focus on soliciting thoughts and opinions on unification from a broad section of the population. Doing this will involve maintaining a set distance from the government and listening equally to all opinions, regardless of whether they are conservative or progressive.

The current composition of committee members is leaning toward the government. The committee must not create the impression that we are on the brink of reunification.

Even more important, the committee must play an active role in improving inter-Korean relations. Since Park was inaugurated as president, the prevailing temperament of inter-Korean relations has been conflict and confrontation rather than cooperation and exchange. The increasingly severe rivalry for hegemony in East Asia, with China on one side and Japan and the US on the other, is also taking its toll on the Korean peninsula.

Amid these circumstances, the South Korean government appears feckless, lacking strategic vision. Setting aside these pressing issues and talking about unification shows that priorities are misplaced. If the committee can contribute to the creation of an environment of cooperation and exchange between North and South Korea, even that would earn it some degree of credit.

The committee is a temporary organization. If the organization does not receive any support, it will be little more than a flashy name; given too much support, it could easily supplant other similar organizations. We hope that the committee will figure out its limitations and only do what it really has to do.

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