hankyoreh

Seven years have passed since the historic joint statement from the 2000 North-South summit was issued. There is a celebration marking the event going on in Pyongyang, but nothing is being put on jointly by the two Koreas because of the South's decision to hold off on giving the North aid in the form of rice. The situation is a demonstration of how rough inter-Korean relations are as of late.

Relations have seen impressive development since the summit, despite many ups and downs along the way. 5,599 South Koreans visited the North in 1999, but by last year that number increased twentyfold, to 100,836. During that same period trade increased from US$333 million to US$1.349 billion. More than 15,000 North Koreans are working at the South's Gaeseong (Kaesong) Industrial Park located in the North, and more than 1.5 million South Koreans have visited the North's Mount Geumgang (Kumgang). Some 16,000 members of separated families have participated in reunions since the summit. There have been 204 official talks of various kinds between the two sides, including ministerial-level talks, and last month, for the first time since the country was divided, trains crossed the demilitarized zone, doing so along two rail lines, one along the east coast and one connecting Seoul with the Sinuiju, a North Korean city near its border with China.

Relations are clearly limited, however, despite the accomplishments. The main reason is that the North Korean nuclear issue has yet to enter a phase where it is really being resolved, but the lack of a proactive approach by both governments is also part of the problem. It is time North and South start anew with a framework unlike the one they have worked with in the past.

For starters, the South Korean government needs to stop linking relations with Pyongyang to the nuclear issue. Instead, it needs to actively advance inter-Korean relations and thereby back up international efforts to resolve the issue, while giving North and South Korea more room to work with in discussion about a peace regime for the peninsula and the greater Northeast Asian region. There is no reason, for example, to avoid talking about the "fundamental problems" the North brings up, such as the question of the Northern Limit Line (NLL). The situation is now such that unless military and political issues are dealt with head on, the flow of currently existing economic cooperation and non-governmental exchange and cooperation could suffer as a consequence.

North Korea, for its part, quickly needs to make its intention to engage in reform and openness clear and move beyond the "reunification front tactics" of yesteryear. It is critical that the North have an efficient internal structure for the responsible execution of various agreements. We would also hope that Pyongyang clearly realizes that the statements it makes have a serious effect on how it is perceived by the South Korean public.

The Korean peninsula is at a most critical time right now. The basic principle that needs to be followed here is that it is North and South Korea that are going to take the initiative in resolving issues that concern the peninsula. That is the biggest reason there needs to be qualitative change in relations.



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