[Analysis] No new messages in Pres. Park’s Independence Movement Day address

Posted on : 2016-03-02 15:35 KST Modified on : 2016-03-02 15:35 KST
Park continues pressure on N. Korea, but mentions dialogue, while calling on Japan to implement comfort women agreement
President Park Geun-hye passes Saenuri Party leader Kim Moo-sung (far left) and opposition Minjoo Party of Korea leader Kim Jong-in (second from the left) while taking her seat at a commemorative ceremony for 97th Independence Movement Day at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts on Mar. 1. (by Lee Jeong-yong
President Park Geun-hye passes Saenuri Party leader Kim Moo-sung (far left) and opposition Minjoo Party of Korea leader Kim Jong-in (second from the left) while taking her seat at a commemorative ceremony for 97th Independence Movement Day at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts on Mar. 1. (by Lee Jeong-yong

President Park Geun-hye offered nothing new in the way of policies or messages on the North Korean nuclear issue, inter-Korean relations, or the comfort women issue in her address for the 97th Independence Movement Day on Mar. 1. Instead, she stressed the need to keep up pressure and sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear program, while urging Tokyo to fully implement the terms of the two countries’ agreement on the comfort women issue last Dec. 28.

It short, it was a reiteration and re-emphasizing of past messages. One difference did stand out: a reference to “dialogue” on the North Korea nuclear issue. It was the first time Park used the word “dialogue” in connection with inter-Korean relations in any of her public speeches or statements since North Korea’s fourth nuclear test in January. 

Continued focus on sanctioning, pressuring North Korea

“As long as North Korea shows no willingness to denuclearize and refuses to change, the pressure from us and the international community will continue,” Park said in the address, adding that the situation “will leave North Korea no choice but to abandon its nuclear capabilities.” She also stressed that “the choice is now North Korea’s.” The adoption of a new United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution sanctioning North Korea, she added, represented “the collective resolve will of the international community.”

Elsewhere, Park said she “believe[s] other countries surrounding the Korean Peninsula will take part actively in the path toward peace for the Korean Peninsula and the world” - a roundabout call for the Chinese and Russian governments to join proactively on sanctioning the North.

Park’s references to the North Korean nuclear issue fell along the same lines as those in a Feb. 16 speech at the National Assembly. This time, however, the language was somewhat more refined, without that speech’s insistence on “changing the North Korean regime at all costs” or predictions of a collapse from Pyongyang. For example, prior to saying that “as long as North Korea shows no willingness to denuclearize and refuses to change, the pressure from us and the international community will continue,” she qualified the remark with the words, “While this administration will not be closing the door to dialogue [with Pyongyang].” The message is that Seoul remains unchanged in its belief that it is “time to focus on sanctions,” but will not be ruling out dialogue outright. 

Comfort women issue: ‘Honor terms of Dec. 28 agreement’

The core message of the Independence Movement Day address is customarily directed at Japan, but Park’s comments regarding Japan were milder and briefer than the message to Pyongyang. In it, Park stressed a commitment to honoring the terms of the agreement reached by the South Korean and Japanese Foreign Ministers last Dec. 28 on the comfort women issue. “This administration will do everything it can to restore the honor of each and every comfort woman survivor, healing the wounds in their hearts and increasing the availability of practical support,” she declared.

Park went on to say the Japanese government “should not forget its errors in history, but work to put the spirit and intent of this agreement fully into practice so that it is remembered as a lesson by future generations.” The statement also meant Park has no plans whatsoever to invalidate or renegotiate the agreement as many comfort women survivors - including Kim Bok-dong and Gil Won-ok - and civic groups like the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan have called for.

By Lee Je-hun, staff reporter

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