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May 7. (by Kang Chang-kwang

By Seok Jin-hwan, Blue House correspondent in Washington DC

The aspect of the May 7 summit meeting between South Korean President Park Geun-hye and US President Barack Obama that has received the most attention is how the two leaders perceive the crisis on the Korean peninsula, including the North Korean nuclear program, and how they believe the crisis can be solved. The tense situation on the Korean peninsula during March and April peaked with the shutdown of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, and seems to have calmed for the moment. It is in this context that observers looked to the summit meeting between the US and South Korean presidents as a chance to put in motion a solution to the continuing crisis and to open the door to dialogue.

Especially inasmuch as the Foal Eagle US-ROK combined military exercises, to which the North responded with extreme sensitivity, came to an end on Apr. 30, there was considerable expectation that the meeting would be a chance for the leaders of South Korea and the US to come up with practical ways to bring North Korea to the negotiating table.

However, the statement that the summit resulted is basically a reaffirmation of the present position of the US and South Korea. It did not include any daring proposal or plan that could transform the situation. The two leaders once again reiterated their intention to maintain the alliance between the US and South Korea and their combined defensive posture, and they agreed to develop these further. In particular, the US said that it supports the trust-building process for the Korean peninsula that Park Geun-hye has been touting, promising to keep open the door for dialogue while still responding firmly to any provocations by North Korea.

The trust-building process for the Korean peninsula, Park’s signature policy toward North Korea, is a plan to implement active policies of reconciliation with North Korea, including not only aid for North Korea but also development of an economic community. All of this aid, however, is predicated on North Korea making the “right choice” and giving up its nuclear weapons and refraining from new provocations. During the summit, both Park and Obama reaffirmed and emphasized the importance of this plan. In other words, dialogue and pressure were mentioned side by side, but the emphasis was placed on North Korea refraining from provocative behavior and being the first to change. It is in this way that pressure on the North is more significant, and it appears that this was a result of South Korea’s position being stressed more than the position of the US.

As a result of this, Park Geun-hye’s interview with CBS is being placed in the spotlight once more. In an interview broadcast on US TV channel CBS on May 6, the day before the summit meeting with Obama, Park took a hard line, demanding change from the North.

During the interview, host Margaret Brennan asked Park if she would meet with Kim Jong-un face to face and what she would say. Park said that she would meet him if the opportunity arose, but that she did not think that the current situation was the right time for it. “North Korea must change. I want to say that that is the only way for the North to survive, and the only way for it to develop,” said Park in a brief response. These remarks once again emphasize her position that North Korea must be the first to change.

Park was also asked whether South Korea would respond to a localized attack like the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in 2010 with a “military response”, unlike the Lee Myung-bak administration. “Yes, we will make them pay,” Park said firmly.

From the perspective of North Korea, which has probably been waiting to see the outcome of the summit, it is very likely that this will not be taken as a positive signal that will bring them to the negotiating table.

This is the reason behind the assessment of the situation made by Inje University professor Kim Yeon-cheol. “There were high hopes for the summit between the US and South Korea, hopes that it might provide a way out of this critical situation, but nothing of the sort can be seen,” Kim said. “It is unlikely that this will serve as an opportunity for overcoming the obstacles we are facing at the present.”

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