hankyoreh

By Choi Hyun-june, staff reporter

The South Korean government granted a South Korean company permission to take part in the Najin-Hasan Project, a collaborative project between North Korea and Russia. The decision is leading to predictions that the government could start to loosen the May 24 measures.

The measures were adopted by the administration of former President Lee Myung-bak after the sinking of the Cheonan warship in March 2010. The measures are sanctions by Seoul against the North that cut off all economic, culture exchange, and cooperation projects between South and North Korea The Kaesong Industrial Complex was the only inter-Korean economic cooperation project that was exempted from the measures.

The measures have become something of an embarrassment for the South Korean government, which has insisted that it will not revoke them until North Korea issues an apology or otherwise takes responsibility for the sinking of the Cheonan.

In the case of this project, the South Korean company abides by the letter of the law by investing in a Russian company, not a North Korean company. The fact remains, however, that a South Korean company is funding a project that is taking place in North Korea.

As a result, the Ministry of Unification offered the dubious explanation that “a South Korean company participating in the Najin-Hasan Project does not fall within the scope of the May 24 Measures.”

When asked in the regular press briefing whether the May 24 Measures did not apply to joint ventures between foreign companies and South Korean companies, ministry deputy spokesperson Park Su-jin said that as far as she understood they did not.

This is a new interpretation of the May 24 Measures, indicating that indirect investment in North Korea through foreign companies does not fall within the scope of the measures.

The Ministry of Unification reportedly considered treating the investment as an exception to the May 24 Measures, but decided against this. The Ministry was concerned that doing so might effectively nullify the measures.

“Considering that the recipient of the investment is Russia, we interpreted this not as an exception to the May 24 Measures but rather as a case that falls outside the scope of the measures,” said an official at the ministry who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Analysts are not putting a great deal of stock in the government’s new interpretation of the measures. “It’s good to see a South Korean company investing in North Korea, but it would not be wise to interpret this as a signal that the May 24 Measures are going to be repealed,” said Paik Hak-soon, senior researcher at the Sejong Institute.

“We need to make some progress on actual inter-Korean relations, including tourism at Keumgang Mountain and the Kaesong Industrial Complex,” Paik said.

“It would be difficult to find an immediate solution to the May 24 Measures. Instead of trying to resolve this issue all at once, we ought to make decisions on a case-by-case basis,” said Moon Chung-in, professor at Yonsei University.

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