hankyoreh

By Kim Won-chul, staff reporter

Ahn Cheol-soo said on Nov. 8 that if elected president, he plans to set up both a hotline between Seoul and Pyongyang and a permanent body for inter-Korean conflict resolution.

The independent presidential candidate delivered his remarks while speaking on foreign policy, including North Korea policy, at his campaign office in Seoul’s Jongno district.

“I intend to set in motion a virtuous cycle with the North Korean nuclear issue and a peace regime based on inter-Korean reconciliation,” he said. “First, I plan to resume inter-Korean dialogue, holding ministerial talks for priority discussions on setting up a hotline between the North and South Korean leaders.”

Ahn also pledged to make trust-building efforts and establish peace in the West (Yellow) Sea region with a direct military phone line between the South’s Northwest Islands Defense Command and the North’s Southwest Front Command, as well as a permanent inter-Korean conflict resolution committee.

He also promised to hold discussions on an inter-Korean fishing area, premised on recognition of the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea and the restoration of the June 4, 2004 agreement, a plan to prevent maritime clashes, which was nullified by North Korea in 2010 after the sinking of the Cheonan warship. He went on to state plans to use the six-party talks as a basic framework for pursuing denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula as agreed upon in the Joint Statement of September 19, 2005.

On the North Korean human rights issue, Ahn said he plans to first push for cooperation on food aid and health care for vulnerable segments of the population, while also holding discussions with the international community on ways to generally improve the country’s human rights climate. He also said he wants to bolster inter-Korean economic cooperation and pursue agricultural cooperation as well.

Ahn’s speech included foreign policy ideas involving stronger diplomatic ties with the four major outside powers in peninsular affairs (China, Japan, Russia, and the US), including a stronger South Korea-US alliance.

On the issue of the South Korea-US Free Trade Agreement, Daegu University professor Kim Yang-hee, a member of Ahn’s camp, said the candidate plans to “forgo an approach of unconditional renegotiation or annulment, and maximize the positive effects while minimizing the negative side effects through amendment negotiations as stated in the agreement text.”

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