hankyoreh

Lee Yu-jin

Private exchange between South and North Korea is finally resuming after long being strictly prohibited.

The South Korean government announced on May 26 that it had approved a request to contact North Korean residents by the humanitarian aid group Korean Sharing Movement (KSM). It was the first approval for contact with North Korea granted to a private South Korean group since the North’s fourth nuclear test in Jan. 2016.

“The government’s position is one of responding sternly to North Korea’s provocations while considering humanitarian aid and other forms of private interchange on a flexible basis, to the extent that it does not compromise the framework of international sanctions against the North,” explained Ministry of Unification deputy spokesperson Lee Yu-jin in a May 26 briefing.

“It is from this perspective that it has approved the private group Korea Sharing Movement’s request to contact North Korean residents for the purpose of humanitarian discussions to control malaria at the border region,” she added.

Lee went on to say that “future requests received for visits and carrying of goods to North Korea will be a separate issue from approvals for contact,” adding that they would “need to be reviewed in light of a range of factors, including the number of visitors, details of items carried, condition of inter-Korean relations, and physical safety.”

Around 20 groups besides KSM are reported to have submitted requests to the ministry for contact with North Korea since President Moon Jae-in took office, including Okedongmu, a group providing health, nutrition, and educational support for North Korean children.

The same day, the Ministry of Unification reported on a number of issues to Moon’s governance planning advisory committee, including expanded private interchange and other improvements to inter-Korean relations, reunions for divided families and other humanitarian issues, and solutions to the North Korean nuclear and missile programs. The ministry’s operational report was reportedly focused on the “new Korean Peninsula economy map” initiative, one of Moon’s key pledges as a presidential candidate.

The initiative, announced by Moon as leader of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (precursor to today’s Minjoo Party) in Aug. 2015, includes an expanded economic zone reaching North Korea and mainland Asia; proposals for 2+2 meetings with North Korea and the US to resume the Six-Party Talks on the north Korean nuclear issue; the lifting of the May 24 Measures, economic sanctions imposed in response to the Cheonan warship sinking; and resumption of tourism at Mt. Keumgang.

By Jung In-hwan, staff reporter

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