Implementation of Panmunjeom Declaration will be a challenge

Posted on : 2018-04-28 15:40 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
The Blue House plans to submit the agreement to the National Assembly for ratification
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un hold up their hands after signing the Panmunjeom Declaration for Peace
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un hold up their hands after signing the Panmunjeom Declaration for Peace

After South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed the Panmunjeom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula on Apr. 27, one remaining challenge is the implementation of the agreement. One of the key questions is whether the declaration’s legal force can be guaranteed by securing the ratification of the National Assembly.

“We will be pursuing follow-up measures swiftly and transparently, in line with legal grounds and procedures. The Panmunjeom Declaration will take effect following legal procedures related to the signing and ratification of inter-Korean agreements according to Article 21 of the Development of Inter-Korean Relations Act,” the Blue House said in a press release issued after the summit. It also offered the following order of events: review by the cabinet, ratification by the president, approval by the National Assembly and promulgation to the public.

It has long been Moon’s conviction that inter-Korean agreements should be made law to make their implementation legally binding. He is determined not to repeat the experience of the June 15 Joint Statement and Oct. 4 Summit Statement, which were signed during summits in 2000 and 2007 but fizzled out without being put into practice.

“The agreement that is reached during the inter-Korean summit must be made law. When this inter-Korean agreement is signed, add the basic provisions agreed to during the previous two summits and make preparations to secure the ratification of the National Assembly,” Moon said during a meeting of the inter-Korean summit preparatory committee on Mar. 21.

The Panmunjeom Declaration also said that the two leaders “agreed to bring forth the watershed moment for the improvement of inter-Korean relations by fully implementing all existing agreements and declarations adopted between the two sides thus far.”

“The two of us will cooperate closely so that today’s agreement does not repeat the shameful history of previous agreements that have ended at their beginning,” Kim said during the press conference in which the declaration was announced.

But ratification by the National Assembly is expected to be an uphill slog, since this would require Moon’s political opposition to get on board. Liberty Korea Party leader Hong Joon-pyo sharply criticized the outcome of the summit: “They just wrote down what Kim Jong-un dictated. In the end this was nothing more than a charade of inter-Korean peace cooked up by Kim and the Moon administration.”

“We will decide whether to seek the approval of the National Assembly after a review has been carried out by the Ministry of Government Legislation and other related agencies,” the Blue House said in its press release. In addition to the constitutional debate about whether North Korea can be regarded as a “state” with which a treaty can be signed, another interpretation is that this gives the government more wiggle room in light of the domestic political situation.

By Hwang June-beom, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

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