On Declaration’s anniversary, voices call for return of Sunshine Policy

Posted on : 2015-10-03 17:09 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
At symposium, participants argue that if conciliatory policies had been continued, inter-Korean relations wouldn’t have deteriorated
 June. 13
June. 13

At an academic conference to mark the eighth anniversary of the October 4 North-South Declaration, several voices called for a restoration of the Sunshine Policy and other initiatives to improve inter-Korean relations. On Oct. 2, the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation, Korea Peace Forum and Chatham House (Royal Institute of International Affairs) co-hosted an international symposium for the eighth anniversary of the October 4 declaration at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in central Seoul.  

 At the symposium, James Hoare, a Chatham House fellow who was charge d’affaires and HM Consul-General at the British Embassy in Pyongyang, said that what South and North need right now is a return to the Sunshine Policy initiatives enacted by Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun from 1997 to 2007. He added that if Lee Myung-bak had continued such initiatives instead of abandoning the October 4 Declaration, it would have helped inter-Korean relations immensely.

 Moon Jae-in, leader of the opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, claimed that if the initiatives of the October 4 declaration had continued, the lives of 70 million people would now be “brimming with hope and prosperity,” while the Korean Peninsula “reached out to the international community as a whole.” “The past eight years of Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye, however, have thrown inter-Korean relations back to the dark ages,” he added, adding that if measures such as the special zone of peace and cooperation in the West (Yellow) Sea and economic reunification had been properly implemented, the nation could have focused its efforts on conquering problems like stagnant growth, the decline of the middle class, and youth unemployment. The October 4 declaration included agreements to establish a “special zone of peace and cooperation” in the West Sea, including the city of Haeju and the surrounding maritime region, as well as the launch of joint fishing areas and peace districts.

 Lee Seung-hwan, Director of Operations of Tongilmaji-One Corea Actiong, said the October 4 declaration was important because it revealed North Korea‘s intentions to “discuss matters of peace with the United States and work on cooperative exchange with South Korea,” claiming that it signaled a diplomatic breakthrough that could have led to direct peace talks between governments. He added that by denying the accomplishments of the Roh Moo-hyun era (2003-2008), the Park administration may succeed in securing “temporary agreements,” such as those achieved this past Aug. 25 during crisis talks amid escalating tension, but will “ultimately fail to relieve inter-Korean animosity and distrust,” which will only create more conflict. “The government that improves inter-Korean relations is the one that continues the initiatives of the October 4 declaration,” he said.

 Also in attendance were Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, Choi Moon-soon, governor of Gangwon Province, and other local government leaders, who emphasized the need to revitalize inter-Korean exchange in the spirit of peace and the October 4 declaration. Won Hee-ryong, Governor of Jeju, said he has been proposing since last year to reinitiate projects to send Jeju tangerines to North Korea, a campaign which lasted from 1998 until the May 24 Measures of 2010. He added that North Korea is the only maritime region in Asia that cruise liners can’t access, saying that “establishing a maritime route between Jeju and North Korea would ease inter-Korean tensions greatly.”

 By Kim Ji-hoon, staff reporter

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