hankyoreh

A conference organized by the Hankyoreh Foundation for Reunification and Culture

A decentralized form of North Korea policy should be introduced in which the authority and autonomy of local governments and the private sector is increased to allow them to engage in inter-Korean exchange and cooperation with the North when inter-Korean relations are strained, a new proposal suggests.

Speaking at an Apr. 24 conference organized by the Hankyoreh Foundation for Reunification and Culture, the Korea Peace Forum, and the Seoul Metropolitan Government for the first anniversary of last year’s Apr. 27 inter-Korean summit, Shin Jong-ho, director of the planning and coordination division at the Korea Institute for National Unification (KCTU) stressed the need to pursue decentralization of North Korea policy.

“When North Korea policy is driven by the central government, political and military variables that arise tend to have a negative impact on exchange and cooperation as a whole,” Shin noted.

In his explanation, Shin cited the blocking of humanitarian aid and all forms of inter-Korean exchange cooperation – including operations at the Kaesong Industrial Complex – as a result of the North Korean nuclear issue and resulting sanctions, as well as claims of “handouts to the North” and other conflicts erupting in South Korea during changes in administrations.

Shin stressed the need to adopt a decentralized approach rather than insisting on a central government-initiated model of inter-Korean exchange and cooperation. Inter-Korean relations should be based on “decentralized North Korea policy that incorporates aspects of local autonomy,” just as countries with active private exchange are able to sustain generally solid relations at the national level even during conflicts between their central governments, he said.

Indeed, local governments and private groups have assumed responsibility until recently for aid efforts with North Korea, which the central government has difficulty pursuing directly. Even at times when inter-Korean relations have been strained, Gyeonggi Province has continued North Korean humanitarian aid efforts involving support for malaria prevention, nutrition, and relief for young children, as well as treatment for tuberculosis patients. In January, the province sent 359 doses of tuberculosis medication to the North.

Naming the establishment of “cooperative governance” by the central and local governments and private sector as the key element of decentralized North Korea policy, Shin added that it did not signify a reduced role for the central government. Based on current laws and institutions, local governments are not considered parties to North Korean trade and agents in North Korean assistance efforts. In the name of “orderly inter-Korean exchange,” the Ministry of Unification assumes a practical role in managing inter-Korean exchange efforts by local governments. While local governments have established their own ordinances and funds to establish separate corporations, or have commissioned the pursuit of North Korea-related efforts to the private sector, significant disparities have emerged between the individual local governments’ financial situation and the local government heads’ level of interest in inter-Korean issues.

In more concrete terms, the central government should increase its role as a “coordinator” in terms of institutionalizing inter-Korean relations and establishing them on a sustainable footing, while adjusting laws and guidelines to afford greater authority and autonomy to local governments, Shin said. As examples, he mentioned establishing different permanent consultative groups for cooperation between South and North Korean local governments, identifying and sharing experiences with inter-Korean exchange and cooperation programs suited to local characteristics, and examining the implementation of existing inter-Korean agreements to establish a division of roles among the central and local governments and the private sector.

Appearing as a discussant, Seoul Institute Director Seo Wang-jin shared 10 projects in three areas of comprehensive urban cooperation between Seoul and Pyongyang, namely urban infrastructure cooperation, economic cooperation, and citizen exchanges. Seo insisted that an institutional foundation should be put in place through the amendment of relevant laws and other measures to enable local governments to act as agents in inter-Korean exchange and cooperation.

Amid the recent climate of peace and cooperation, the seventh group of democratically elected local government heads that took office last year are scrambling to pursue inter-Korean exchange efforts. According to Shin, the inter-Korean exchange and cooperation programs they have suggested are recycled from projects carried out or suspended in the past and are largely unfeasible. Some of them fail to take into account the strict sanctions currently in place against North Korea or inadequately reflect the recent economic and social shifts under the Kim Jong-un regime, he added.

“I had the opportunity last year to look at 200 or so inter-Korean exchange efforts by local governments, and many of them were good ideas but were lacking in feasibility,” he observed.

“There hasn’t been enough reflective consideration of methods of exchange and cooperation that reflect changes in inter-Korean relations and the political situation on the Korean Peninsula,” he said.

Shin went on to say the key elements for successful inter-Korean exchange and cooperation at the local government level would be sustainability, feasibility, and the development of projects with conditions acceptable to North Korea.

To begin with, exchange and cooperation efforts should be sustainable and based in support from local residents, he said. Shin’s argument was that local government heads should avoid the sort of programs that are initiated for political ends as a way of drawing voter attention, only to wither away as their effects diminish. To this end, he called for greater transparency in the administration of inter-Korean exchange and cooperation.

Due to overlaps in form and content, many of the projects envisioned by local governments require linkages and cooperation among regions. The idea of a “unified special economic district” pursued by local governments close to the armistice line has been respectively conceptualized as an “industry cooperation complex” by Seoul, a “Gyeonggi northern unified special economic district” by Gyeonggi Province, a “West Sea special peace and economy district” by Incheon, and a “Cheorwon peace industrial complex” by Gangwon Province.

According to Shin, the unified special economic district projects are laudable in terms of local specialization, but should be pursued at the national level to linkages and cooperation among large-scale local governments. With the current sanctions against North Korea in particular, the special district efforts require basic principles, directions, and medium- to long-term planning, which should be pursued systematically through discussions with the North during a stage of increased activity in inter-Korean exchange, he said. Gyeonggi Research Institute Director Lee Han-ju, who participated as a discussant, stressed the importance of coordination among local governments, noting the diminished efficiency and bargaining strength that arise when local governments pursue inter-Korean exchange and cooperation efforts individually without coordination.

Also required are projects that can be pursued at the local government level as progress is made in North Korea-US denuclearization talks and sanctions are reduced or lifted. In this case, it is important to accurately gauge North Korea’s needs and wants and emphasize the benefits it stands to gain, Shin said. This entails an examination of North Korea’s industry structure, current trade and distribution conditions, and economic development district conditions and a concrete explanation of the benefits to be gained by North Korean authorities, he explained.

At a plenary session of its Workers’ Party in April 2018, North Korea stressed a new strategic course of focusing all energies on building the economy, with an emphasis on technology combinations and high-tech industry. In contrast with the labor-intensive approach seen at the Kaesong Industrial Complex with its low personnel costs, North Korea’s recent demands are focused instead on knowledge-sharing efforts and attracting high-tech industry in areas including big data and smart cities.

Jeong Jae-seung, a KAIST professor who serves as a master planner for Sejong City’s “national pilot smart city,” predicted a significant potential synergy effect between South Korea’s smart city technology and North Korea’s interest in advanced technology and promoting its economy. Speaking at the Seoul-Pyongyang Future Forum organized on Apr. 22 by the Hankyoreh Foundation for Reunification and Culture, he suggested an approach for Pyongyang and other North Korean cities to serve as test beds for South Korea’s smart cities. In particular, he noted that the North Korean government’s strong leadership means that various experiments can be conducted over a short period of time, which he named as the greatest advantage of North Korean cities as test beds.

“If smart cities developed in South Korea are exported worldwide, it would bring great vitality to the South Korean economy,” Jeong predicted, suggesting the swifter development of smart technology by South and North Korea could be a boon to both sides.

Shin Jong-ho said, “‘Top-down’ approaches to North Korea policy such as summits are still important, and there is also a need to pursue ‘bottom-up’ exchange and cooperation through increased local government and private sector autonomy when inter-Korean relations are deadlocked.”

By Kwon Hyuk-chul, director of the Hankyoreh Peace Institute

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