hankyoreh

Oct. 6. (Blue House photo pool)

By Park Byong-su, senior staff writer

President Park Geun-hye hinted at her hopes for improved inter-Korean relations with favorable remarks about a recent visit by a senior delegation from Pyongyang during an Oct. 6 senior secretaries’ meeting at the Blue House.

But Park also expressed hopes for “sincere” actions on North Korea’s part, suggesting Seoul is not budging from its previous position.

The administration’s hopes for the future of ties with Pyongyang were evident during the welcoming of the Oct. 4 visit by the delegation, which included Korean People’s Army general political bureau chief Hwang Pyong-so. Key South Korean security officials, including Blue House National Security chief Kim Kwan-jin, met the visitors to talk and ask about their plans for a visit to the Blue House. Many saw the gesture as showing Park’s own interest in making the visit a turning point in improving inter-Korean relations.

Those expectations were also hinted at in Park’s relatively generous appraisal of the event.

“I hope we can make this visit the first step in a process of South-North dialogue to open the door wide to peace,” Park said of the visit.

The North Korean delegation did indeed send signals that it is very interested in resuming dialogue, as when it unexpectedly accepted Seoul’s proposal for a second round of senior-level talks. Particularly noteworthy were remarks made by Hwang to Prime Minister Chung Hong-won that hinted at the possibility of an inter-Korean summit.

“We’ve cut a narrow path this time; let’s turn it into wide passage going ahead,” Hwang told Chung while preparing to depart from Incheon.

While Seoul denied any discussion of a summit - and the future political situation remains uncertain to say the least - Park’s remarks certainly read as a response to the all-around congenial mood at the Oct. 4 visit.

Perhaps the most attention-grabbing of Park’s remarks was her call for regular, ongoing inter-Korean dialogue. Rather than her typical lofty pronouncements about a “Korean Peninsula trust-building process,” “vision for peace in Northeast Asia,” or “unification as jackpot,” the proposal seemed to offer something more concrete - a genuine action plan.

Park didn’t mention what kind of regular dialogue she had in mind, but precedent suggests it may mean minister-level meetings. It’s a framework that has been used in the past to discuss and coordinate on different issues in inter-Korean relations, with the Minister of Unification representing Seoul and a “Cabinet counselor” being appointed for Pyongyang, most often from the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland.

It’s unclear whether the format can be revived. Last year, the Park administration scrapped ministerial talks proposed by Pyongyang, citing the low rank of the North Korean delegate. Analysts predicted the chief format for regular dialogue may instead be high-level meetings with a representative from the Blue House. The February meeting had the first deputy chief of the Office of National Security and the deputy minister of the North Korean United Front Department as senior delegates, and the second round of talks agreed to this week also would have the Blue House participating.

Many inside the Blue House seem wary about giving the impression that it places much significance on the North Korean delegation’s visit. Their concern is that without any clear understanding of Pyongyang’s goals or concrete results to speak of, some may conclude that Seoul was roped into a surprise “event” organized by North Korea. For now, insiders are keeping an eye on the reaction from the conservatives who make up the administration and ruling Saenuri Party‘s traditional support base.

That may also explain Park making a point of saying she hoped Pyongyang would “take sincere actions to show its commitment to improving inter-Korean relations.”

“Those calls for ‘sincere actions’ from North Korea are something President Park has consistently said about inter-Korean relations,” said a senior administration official on condition of anonymity.

“The administration’s position has been that we need to stand by our principles in addressing inter-Korean relations, and there hasn‘t been any major change to that,” the official added.

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