South Korea is pushing for new rules for engaging North Korea in dialogue, making it clear that it will no longer allow itself to be bandied about. It says it will not tolerate any attempt by North Korea to pit South Korean civilian groups against their government in pursuit of gain.
Under this policy, South Korea has decided not to allow South Korean civilians to attend a ceremony marking this year’s anniversary of the South-North Joint Declaration adopted by South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-il at their historic Pyongyang summit on June 15, 2000.
Another test case involves the industrial complex for South Korean companies in the North Korean border town of Gaeseong. Its operation has been suspended since North Korea withdrew 53,000 workers from the complex on April 9, as inter-Korean tensions escalated over North Korea’s February nuclear test and subsequent South Korean-U.S. military exercises.
President Park Geun-hye’s administration has since called for official working-level talks on issues concerning the reopening of the industrial complex, including permission to South Korean companies to bring back finished products and manufacturing materials from their factories in the complex. But North Korea has turned down the proposal for official talks.
Abruptly on Tuesday, North Korea said that it would allow officials of the South Korean companies to visit the industrial complex, adding that it was ready to discuss any issues concerning normal operation with them, including the transport of finished products to the South. This time, however, South Korea said it would not permit company officials to cross the border into the industrial complex until after North Korea agrees to the proposal for official talks.
The South Korean unification minister, Ryoo Kihl-jae, said on Wednesday that it was hypocritical of North Korea to propose to reopen the industrial complex through talks with company officials. He said North Korea behaves “as if nothing had happened” since it cut off the military hotline, the channel of inter-Korean communications, on March 27, and took other measures thereafter to suspend operations in the complex.
He demanded North Korea promise the South Korean government in official talks that it will not arbitrarily suspend operations in the complex again. He said the South Korean government cannot allow North Korea to ignore international norms and practices and have its way just because the South Korean companies, denied access to their factories, are experiencing extreme financial difficulties.
The South Korean demands are perfectly legitimate. What the South Korean government needs to do is resist mounting pressure from the companies involved and advocates of inter-Korean cooperation that are in support of North Korea’s desire to bypass official talks and directly contact civilian groups.
