[Editorial] Pres. Park’s empty words in Liberation Day address

Posted on : 2014-08-16 14:28 KST Modified on : 2014-08-16 14:28 KST
 Aug. 15. (Blue House photo pool)
Aug. 15. (Blue House photo pool)

There were hopes that President Park Geun-hye would make a proposal during her celebratory address for Liberation Day that could relax the strained relations with North Korea, but she failed to do so. In addition, she only made routine remarks about Japan, which has been slow to address the problems of the past. Nor did she make a single reference to the special Sewol Law, which is the single greatest political issue in South Korea today. She only reiterated her standard position about other domestic issues, including violence in the military and stimulating the economy.

The new projects that Park offered North Korea can be summarized as follows: a cooperative waterway and forest management project, an invitation for the North to send a delegation to the Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity taking place in Pyeongchang in October, cooperation on improving the living environment in villages, and preparation for a joint cultural event on the 70th anniversary of Korean liberation in 2015.

None of these pertain to the main issues affecting inter-Korean relations. Park appears to have been trying to steer clear of the major topics of interest, namely, whether South Korea will lift the May 24 measures and resume tours to Mt. Keumgang. She did not even say anything to reduce worries about unification by absorption, which North Korea has repeatedly criticized of late.

This is no way to create an opportunity for a breakthrough in inter-Korean relations. Park said that preparing for reunification is an urgent duty that cannot be delayed any longer, but as long as inter-Korean relations are not improved, this is no more than empty rhetoric. If no progress is made in inter-Korean relations, it also becomes less likely that North Korea will give up its nuclear weapons.

In regard to Japan, Park noted that next year will be the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and urged Japan to make an effort to heal the wounds caused by its past actions, and in particular the comfort women.

But on the same day, Japanese cabinet members and around eighty members of the Diet defiantly paid their respects at the Yasukuni Shrine. While Prime Minister Shinzo Abe did not visit the shrine himself, he did send a ritual offering in his name. Park has muted her criticism of Japan, but Japan does not seem to be paying attention.

The congratulatory address on Liberation Day has been regarded both in Korea and overseas as an opportunity to announce a new direction for policies regarding North Korea and Japan. This year, there was a particularly great need for such an announcement. But this year’s address had no substance, leading to the inevitable conclusion that Park does not have a strategic mindset or a real awareness of the problems Korea faces.

Rather than merely adhering to its standard approach to relations with North Korea, the government needs to consider a wider variety of practical measures that would be acceptable to North Korea. If it acknowledges that the key to inter-Korean relations is exchange and collaboration, it cannot avoid the questions of relaxing and lifting the May 24 measures and allowing a resumption of tourism to Mt. Keumgang.

Even worse, a number of the environmental, cultural, and public livelihood cooperative measures that Park proposed would violate the May 24 measures. If the government clings to its current attitude, the high-level talks that it proposed on Aug. 11 are unlikely to lead to meaningful results, even if they are held.

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

button that move to original korean article (클릭시 원문으로 이동하는 버튼)