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Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Hae-chan speaks with Korea Peace Forum emeritus chairman Lim Dong-won during “2018 Outlook for the Political Situation on the Korean Peninsula and Our Response Strategy

A proposal to send a special envoy to North Korea for the participation of its athletes in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics was made at a roundtable discussion to commemorate the 17th anniversary of late former President Kim Dae-jung being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Experts also stressed the need for a response from the South Korean government to US politicians arguing that Washington should not be afraid of risking war.

“We need to encourage North Korea’s participation to turn the Pyeongchang Olympics into a ‘peace Olympics,’ creating an atmosphere conducive to dialogue by halting military exercises for at least as long as the event is taking place,” argued Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Hae-chan at the discussion on “2018 Outlook for the Political Situation on the Korean Peninsula and Our Response Strategy,” held on the afternoon of Dec. 7 at Yonsei University’s Kim Dae-jung Library in Seoul’s Mapo district.

“One approach might be to seek out a breakthrough by sending a special envoy to the North to request its participation [in the Olympics],” Lee suggested, adding that Seoul should “also push for divided family reunions as a humanitarian gesture over the Lunar New Year holiday, which coincides with the Olympics.”

Lee also stressed the need to hold inter-Korean talks during the first half of President Moon Jae-in’s term.

“Judging from our experience with two inter-Korean summits, it is tough to ensure the effectiveness of a summit when it is held in the second half of [a President’s] term,” he said.

“There would be significance in holding a summit in 2019, which is the centennial of the March 1 Independence Movement and establishment of the provisional government,” he added. “So it’s important for us to restore inter-Korean dialogue channels next year and foster the right climate.”

In terms of the political situation on the peninsula for 2018, former Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun predicted a “strong possibility” that South Korea’s security situation will become “highly unstable next year as well, with North Korea and the US speaking entirely different languages.”

Dongguk University professor Kim Yong-hyun concluded that it would take “around one to three more years for North Korea to fully complete its nuclear armament.”

“I see the chances of North Korea engaging in any immediate provocations using a military option as low,” Kim said.

On Pyongyang’s claims to have achieved completion of a state nuclear force, Seoul National University professor Lee Keun explained that it had “declared its security issues solved because it had achieved ‘mutually assured destruction’ with the US, where it would be capable of retaliatory strike with nuclear weapons.”

Lee went on to predict that North Korea would “declare a ‘Two-Track 2.0’ course in next year’s New Year’s address, declaring its intentions not to use nuclear weapons preemptively while announcing a program for economic development.”

In response to US politicians suggesting Washington should risk starting a war, Lee noted that it would take “at least one to three years to prepare a plan for a war, and there would have to be joint operations with South Korea and Japan for aerial attacks or war against North Korea.”

“The talk about an ‘unpredictable threat of war’ has been somewhat blown out of proportion,” he suggested.

Former Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok said US observers “talk too freely about war,” adding that war would be “a South Korean issue, not an American one.”

“Someone in the administration should come forward and send a clear message. Since no one’s doing that, anyone and everyone is talking about the ‘threat of war,’” Lee said.

In a congratulatory address before the discussion, Korea Peace Forum emeritus chairman Lim Dong-won declared, “The exclusive focus on military pressure and economic sanctions under US leadership over the past 15 years has not only failed to prevent North Korea from developing nuclear weapons and missile, but actually led to North Korea improving its nuclear capabilities.”

“If inter-Korean relations improve, we may be able to direct the situation. We need to show the wisdom to pursue improved inter-Korean relations and a resolution to the North Korean nuclear issue as two separate matters,” he suggested.

By Noh Ji-won, staff reporter

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