남북, 합의서 채택과 함께 개성공단 회담 타결

합의서는 “남과 북은 통행 제한 및 근로자 철수 등에 의한 개성공단 중단사태가 재발되지 않도록 하며, 어떠한 경우에도 정세의 영향을 받음이 없이 남측 인원의 안정적 통행, 북측 근로자의 정상 출근, 기업재산의 보호 등 공단의 정상적 운영을 보장한다”고 밝혔다.

이와 함께 합의서는 남측 인원의 신변안전, 기업들의 투자자산의 보호와 통행•통신•통관 문제에 대한 해결 방안을 제시했다.

특히 3통 문제 해결과 관련, ▲ 상시적 통행보장 ▲ 인터넷•이동전화 통신보장 ▲ 통관절차 간소화 ▲ 통관시간 단축 등의 조치를 취하기로 합의하고 실무적 문제는 공동위에서 협의키로 했다.

개성공단 국제화 문제와 관련, 남북은 기업들에 대해 국제적 수준의 기업활동 조건을 보장하고 공단의 국제적 경쟁력을 발전시키기로 했다.

이를 위해 외국기업들의 유치를 적극 장려하고 노무•세무•임금•보험 등 관련제도의 ”국제적 수준”으로의 발전 및 공동 해외투자설명회 추진 등을 추진하기로 합의했다.

이외에 양측은 안전한 공단 출입 및 체류, 투자자산 보호를 위한 제도적 장치를 마련하고, 개성공단 기업들이 설비정비를 하고 재가동할 수 있도록 적극 노력키로 했다.

합의사항을 이행하기 위해 공동위를 설립하고 산하에 필요한 분과위원회도 두기로 했다. 이를 위해 조속한 시일 내에 위원회 구성 및 운영에 관한 합의서를 체결해 기구의 활동을 개시키로 했다.

남북 실무회담 수석대표인 김기웅 통일부 남북협력지구지원단장은 회담 직후 브리핑에서“일단은 남북간에 공동위원회가 중요하다”며 구체적인 재가동 시점을 언급하지 않았다.

그는 “공동위원회는 기본적으로 개성공단과 관련한 모든 문제를 남북 당국이 공동으로 합의해서 해결하는 방식”이라며 “이것을 바꿔 얘기하면 개성공단 운영을 남북당국이 공동으로 하는 제도를 마련하는데 합의가 됐다는 것, 즉 북한이 일방적으로 조치할 수 있는 가능성이 구조적으로 차단된다”고 덧붙였다.

북측 수석대표 박철수 중앙특구개발지도총국 부총국장은 우리측 기자단과의 인터뷰에서 8.15 광복절을 언급하며 “우리 민족 모두에게 참으로 기쁜 소식을 안겨주게 되었다”고 밝혔다.

그는 또한 “앞으로 좀 더 협의를 해서 효율적으로 공업지구의 발전에, 정상화에 될수록 이바지 하는 방향으로” 공동위원회를 운영하겠다고 말했다.

통일부는 “개성공단 중단 사태의 재발방지와 안정적 운영을 다각적으로 보장한다는 의미가 있다”면서 ▲ 합의서를 통한 문서적 보장 ▲ 상설협의기구를 통한 구조적 보장 ▲ 국제사회의 참여를 통한 실질적 보장 등 이중삼중의 보장 장치를 마련했다고 밝혔다.

<개성=코리아헤럴드 공동취재단•신현희 기자>



<관련 영문 기사>



Two Koreas agree to reopen Gaeseong

By Shin Hyon-hee and Joint Press Corps

GAESEONG -- The two Koreas agreed Wednesday to take steps to reopen the Gaeseong factory park after 133 days of suspension, as the sides compromised on the key issue of how to prevent another closure in the future.

Under a five-point accord signed at the close of the seventh round of talks in Gaeseong, they will meet again “in the near future” to form a new joint committee to discuss compensation for businesses and ways to improve passage, communications and customs and how to protect South Koreans’ assets in the border city.

“The South and North will prevent the Gaeseong complex from being halted again due to a passage restriction or employee withdrawal, and ensure its normal operation including South Koreans’ stable passage, North Korean workers’ normal attendance and corporate assets’ protection without being affected by any political situation,” the agreement reads.

Seoul apparently made concessions by agreeing to the “joint” safeguards. It previously insisted on Pyongyang’s unilateral assurances that it would not shut off the district again.

Pyongyang, for its part, accepted other South Korean demands such as “institutional measures” to preclude any relapse, protect business investment, upgrade infrastructure, invite foreign firms and resolve any dispute.

“As for the (guarantor) part, it’s not appropriate to use expressions like yield or retreat -- look at the substance,” the South’s chief negotiator Kim Ki-woong told reporters after the meeting.

“We all know who blocked passage and pulled out workers. What’s to be guaranteed shows who will do it. In conclusion, I think our government has accomplished its original intention.”

The two sides will put back on track the industrial zone after formulating the institutional measures through the envisioned panel, Kim said, without giving a time frame.

“For now the joint committee is critical,” said Kim, director-general of inter-Korean cooperation district support at the Unification Ministry.

“It will basically handle all issues related to the complex through consultation and agreement between the two Koreas’ governments. In other words, we have agreed to devise a system in which the two governments will run the complex together, thus structurally blocking North Korea from imposing unilateral measures.”

Another ministry official said that the hard-won deal contained “three-layer” assurances for the uninterrupted operation of the industrial zone.

“Once the panel sets sail, things like what we saw in April can never happen again,” he said on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

President Park Geun-hye welcomed the agreement.

“I hope today’s talks will create momentum for the inter-Korean relations to get a new start,” she was quoted as saying by her public relations secretary Lee Jung-hyun.

“I expect South and North to make joint efforts toward the globalization of the Gaeseong complex.”

North Korea’s lead delegate Park Chol-su expressed his satisfaction with the result. 

“We can now deliver very good news to the Korean people,” he told South Korean reporters. “We have to move forward through follow-up consultations to contribute to the development and normalization of the industrial district."

The breakthrough came after a battle of nerves since the sixth round of talks broke down on July 25 over who was responsible for the unprecedented, four-month freeze of the manufacturing zone and how to preclude any relapse.

Seoul demanded a pledge from Pyongyang not to block off the district again, whereas Pyongyang argued that such safeguards should be prepared by both sides.

Despite lingering differences, hopes had risen for the revival of the last remaining symbol of cross-border rapprochement, given the North‘s recent “forward-looking” attitude.

The South made what it called a “final” offer of dialogue on July 28, while pressing Pyongyang to budge by approving civilian aid for flood damage and the weak in the impoverished country and announcing plans to compensate businesses in exchange for their property in Gaeseong.

After a 10-day letup, the North on Aug. 7 accepted the proposal through the CPRK statement, saying it would lift the suspension and entry ban, and promising to “fully protect” the safety and assets of South Koreans.

In an apparently warmer atmosphere than earlier talks, the two Koreas traded new draft agreements and fine-tuned their positions throughout the latest round’s five sessions.

Touching down in Gaeseong, Kim quietly said “Good to see you” to his counterpart Park Chol-su, who responded with a smile. During the past encounters they mostly exchanged no greetings or smiles but flat, ceremonial handshakes.

“The fact that today we sit face to face for the seventh time underscores that the problem that we representatives have to deal with is not simple at all,” said Kim, director-general of inter-Korean cooperation district support at the Unification Ministry, as the morning session kicked off.

“As the old saying goes, where there is a will, there is a way. If we make efforts in unison for the future-oriented normalization of the Gaeseong complex, we will be able to overcome any problem, any difficulty.”

The North’s Park responded with a rosy outlook for the talks, pointing to good weather and preparations so far.

“If the South is actively engaged in discussions through today’s meeting, a good outcome could be brought about ahead of tomorrow (Liberation Day),” said Park, vice director of the General Bureau of the Special Zone Development Guidance.

Businessmen, meanwhile, nervously awaited good news from across the border.

Early in the morning, about 10 company executives visited the Headquarters for Inter-Korean Dialogue in central Seoul, from where Kim’s delegation departed for Gaeseong.

They were holding small banners calling for “guarantees for stable management activity at the complex” and “allowing trips to the North for facility maintenance and repair.”

Some 30 South Korean managers and employees who were forced out of work turned up in the border city of Paju, waving to the delegation aboard a bus with a placard reading, “We want to work: the normalization of the Gaeseong industrial complex.”

Now the attention is being shifted toward whether the breakthrough will help resuscitate other stalled inter-Korean projects such as reunions of separated families and tours to Mount Geumgang.

Pyongyang proposed separate talks with Seoul on resuming the two programs after their second round of Gaeseong talks on July 10. But they eventually decided to postpone the plan after the South only welcomed family meetings, saying it would opt to focus on the ongoing negotiations for the time being.

In a speech earlier in the day, Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae expressed regret over the now-incalculable losses for companies engaged in the Mount Geumgang tour business.

“I feel sorry and desperate for the firms suffering damage. The government is trying to help alleviate their losses but there is a limit. I can’t say here that there are some other ideas but we will try harder,” he said at an event hosted by the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, an association of some 200 political, civic and religious groups.

“Like the Gaeseong-based firms, those tied to Geumgang would hope for the resumption of the tour and lifting of the so-called May 24 sanctions. But that’s related to inter-Korean relations, so please keep an eye on government policy.”

In the wake of the North’s 2010 attacks on the South’s Cheonan corvette and Yeonpyeong Island, then-President Lee Myung-bak imposed measures to forbid cross-border trade, investment, travel and other exchanges.

Ryoo also said he was “confident” that the Gaeseong crisis would “provide a chance for the two Koreas to build trust.”

(heeshin@heraldcorp.com)   



* Key points of inter-Korean agreement



The two Koreas agreed to:

- Prevent the Gaeseong complex from being halted again and ensure its normal operation without regard to any political situation

- Ensure South Koreans’ safety, protect invested assets and resolve passage, communications and customs issues

- Ensure international-standard conditions for business and develop the park into a globally competitive industrial complex

- Establish and run a joint committee to implement the agreement

- Design institutional frameworks for safe passage and stay, and investment protection, and make efforts for businesses to repair facilities and resume operations