hankyoreh

Nov. 2. (provided by Jeong Woon-rae)

By Seok Jin-hwan, Blue House correspondent in Paris

President Park Geun-hye said that she is willing to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at any time if that is what is needed to improve inter-Korean relations and maintain peace on the Korean peninsula. The comments appeared in the French daily newspaper Le Figaro in its Nov. 2 edition.

Park made the remarks in an interview with Le Figaro at the Blue house on Oct. 30, the day before she left for a tour of Western Europe.

“We are prepared to help North Korea,” she said. “However, we do not intend to participate in talks for talks’ sake or in showy talks without any lasting impact. The most important thing is sincerity.”

Despite the precondition of “sincerity,” the president’s remarks strike a different note from the cool attitude she has previously adopted toward the idea of a summit.

In an interview with the Washington Post on May 7, Park seemed skeptical of the idea. “But what use would [an inter-Korean summit] be at this moment?” she asked. “As the Korean saying goes, it takes two hands to clap.”

During an interview with American TV station CBS around the same time, Park declined to directly say whether or not she was willing to hold a summit. Instead, she said that North Korea had to change.

With the gradual shift in Park’s attitude coinciding with recent discussions about resuming the six-party talks about North Korea’s nuclear program, the next question is if this will lead to changes in the South Korean government’s basic North Korean policy.

With Park’s trust-building process for the Korean peninsula failing to achieve any tangible results, the president could be forced to ponder how to make more progress in the areas of unification, diplomacy, and security. These are the policy areas that have held up her approval rating so far.

In the interview with Le Figaro, Park emphasized persuasion and trust even while she held to a firm line on the issues of North Korean nuclear weapons and the Kaesong Industrial Complex.

“If North Korea tries to pursue economic development while holding on to its nuclear weapons, it is pursuing an impossible fantasy,” Park said. “If the North continues in this way, it will run into domestic and international obstacles that will cause it to collapse.”

“We will keep trying to use dialogue to persuade North Korea,” she said.

Park offered a similar response when asked in the interview about the Kaesong Industrial Complex. “Despite various obstacles, we must seek a new relationship between North and South that is based on common sense and international standards,” Park said. “When that takes place, it will also be possible for the North to receive the investment that it desires.”

Park was also asked about the tensions between South Korea and Japan. “I consider it regrettable that certain Japanese politicians have continued to behave inappropriately about historical issues.”

“Germany’s forward-looking attitude about its past mistakes made it possible for Europe to be united. Japan needs to adopt a different attitude,” Park said, urging Japan to change its ways.

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