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| kapac |
2007-08-13 12:59:03 | READ : 2386 |
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| T I T L E |
Our Views and Actions on the Current Situations on the Korean Peninsula |
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| FILE #1 |
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On August 7, the Korean Government declared that the Second South-North Summit would be held in Pyongyang. If that becomes a reality, it will be the first meeting between the leaders of the South and North Koreas in more than seven years after the First South-North Summit between President Kim Dae Jung and his Northern counterpart Kim Jong Il in June 2000. KAPAC supports the efforts of the two governments to build constructive relations between the South and North and to strengthen the peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. In this vein, the Second Summit is an encouraging development.
Looking back the major events taken place on the Korean Peninsula since last year and considering their grave implications on the peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and in its surrounding regions, however, KAPAC could not afford to leave our reservations and concerns regarding the proposed Summit and its consequences unannounced.
As we are very well aware, it is simply neither feasible nor desirable to decouple the South-North rapprochement from the overall security situations in the Korean Peninsula and the Northeast Asia, and the Republic of Korea’s relations with its traditional allies or partners like the US and Japan in particular. We have been witnessing with concern the progress of talks between North Korea and the Unites States to denuclearize the former. While there are no tangible assurances at hand that the totalitarian regime will comply with the requests of the international community and honor its own pledge, a peace treaty between North Korea and the Unites States has become a possibility according to the statements of the South Korean government, disclosing the agreement between the South and North to have a Second Summit late August.
The deconstruction of the cold war structure had been postponed in the Korean Peninsula due to peculiar aspects of the security situation on the Korean Peninsula where the militaries of South and North are armed to teeth and confronting against each other along the heavily fortified DMZ (Demilitarized Zone). Although eighteen years have passed since the demise of the Cold War in Europe and elsewhere, tense military confrontation still continue on the Korean Peninsula. No one with a sense of reality would argue against the fact that the culprit of this state of affairs on the Korean Peninsula is the North Korean regime, defying all persuasions and support of its immediate neighbors and international community to open and reform the country, and concentrate all its efforts and available resources to better the daily lives of its citizens who had been suffering enough already for the misguidance and mismanagement of the country by their leaders including Kim Jong Il. On the contrary, North Korea startled entire world by conducing long range missile and underground nuclear tests, not to mention the permanent military threat posing to its immediate neighbor, South Korea and also the occasional provocations.
KAPAC believes that a rapprochement done in haste with North Korea such as the dubiously timed Second Summit runs counter to the long term national interests of both the United States and South Korea. Whatever important subjects are discussed and agreed at the meeting North Korea would simply opt out of them when they think keeping the agreements does not bring the gains expected. We have observed this time and again. It is illustrating to recall that North Korea had agreed to the Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in 1992 while embarking on a full scale clandestine nuclear program that were disclosed to the world only several years later. So, with the benefit of the lessons learned from this episode we could conclude that the South Korean government or the United States government should not engage prematurely in any talks of peace treaty with North Korea until North Korea demonstrates in a genuine way their will to dismantle its nuclear program and ensure a nuclear transparency by accepting the inspection by the United States or IAEA.
These talks on the North Korean nuclear issue and the installation of peace mechanism on the Korean Peninsula will lay the foundation of the future of South Korea for the next hundred years. Nothing other than the genuine concerns on the safety and security of the nation and its people should drive this process. Judging by the timing and the circumstance of the announcement by the South Korean government on the Second Summit, KAPAC cannot but suspect its intent of hastily agreeing with, or more accurately speaking, soliciting the North to have a second Summit. A second Summit itself would be a national celebration if occurring at a right time under a right condition. The proposed timing and the manner of the second Summit suffice none of these.
The ambivalent reactions of the Korean public tell it clearly. Many think that the South Korean government is holding the Second Summit to boost the chance of winning for the ruling candidate at the upcoming presidential election late this year. None of the prospective candidates of the ruling party comes near to the prominent candidates of the opposition party like Ms. K. H. Park or Mr. M. B. Lee in the recent public approval ratings. Unless something unusual or spectacular events occur before the presidential race, it is unlikely that the ruling party wins the next presidency. Likewise, hard pressed by the sanctions imposed for missile and nuclear tests Kim Jong Il is no less enthusiastic in helping the ruling party to defeat the main opposition party. For him the Summit is not only an effective bargaining chip to win imminent political and economic gains although is not clear until now what would constitute these but also a fast lane through which to exercise what influence he has on the outcome of the presidential election in South Korea late this year.
We must not overlook the fact that the halting of activities at Yong Byon nuclear facilities is only the beginning of the long process leading to the complete, irrevocable dismantling of the North Korean nuclear program and to the realization of the 1992 Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Even so the economic assistance from South Korea had already restarted and the US Ambassador to ROK mentioned the willingness of the United States to begin a negotiation to replace a peace treaty with the 1953 cease-fire agreement between the United Nations Forces and North Korea.
If the United States normalizes its relations with North Korea prematurely, it is certain to invite the questions about the necessity and the roles of the United States Forces stationed in South Korea. Any premature talks absent the genuine changes in the North Korea regime, most importantly in its perception on South Korea and its hostile military posture towards South Korea, would create a situation endangering the national security of South Korea. To the Korean American this means that they no more enjoy the backing of the mother country, psychologically or politically, and their stature and the economic positions in the American societies will also suffer severely. Bearing these in mind, KAPAC urge in strongest terms the South Korean government to begin a talk on any substantive issues like a peace treaty only after verifying the genuine will of the North Korean regime.
There are several parameters by which we can judge the North Korean intents. KAPAC believes that the progress in the North Korean human rights situations is one of them. KAPAC is therefore working towards passing a resolution by the United States Congress urging the United States government to enact the 2004 North Korean Human Rights Acts more thorough and vigorous ways. According to the report by the Department of State published May this year, the acceptance of fifty North Korean refugees into the United States is the only substantial work registered so far by the government as its responses to the mandates of the act. We believe that the United States can and must do more in a wider scope.
Another important issue is the situation concerning the prisoners of war (POWs) of the Korean War. The report of the South Korean Defense Minister to the National Assembly in February 2005 had confirmed the existence of the 1,523 South Korean POWs in North Korea. Whereas all United Nations Forces POWs including the American POWs had been released from the North Korea captivity at the conclusion of the Korean War in 1953 and the Unites States government has even been able to recover the remains of the American soldiers in recent years, nothing has been done on the identification and release of these South Korean POWs. This is not only an utter injustice to the contribution done by these soldiers to the national security of South Korea and the victory of the free world over the totalitarian communist conquest but also the grave violation of the international human rights law. In cooperation with the Korean War Veterans Association of the United States KAPAC will urge the United States Congress and government to conduct creative diplomacy in all fronts for the return of these South Korean POWs as early as possible. Even if they return today, it is fifty seven years after the close of the Korean War.
Mindful of the far reaching repercussions of the Second South-North Summit, South Korea and the United States must better harmonize their policies toward North Korea lest they lose initiatives vis-à-vis North Korea in the on going talks on nuclear issue and much more important talks to follow there-after. Rapprochement with North Korea or not, the maintenance of strong alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea should be the cornerstone in dealing with North Korea. With passage of the resolution on the ROK-US Relations (H. Res. 295) ROK-US relations will recover from the strain of the past several years and become more robust and closer. Building further upon this development, KAPAC will spare no efforts in cementing the relations between the two countries even tighter by continuing to play the role of the bridge between the peoples, society, culture and ideas of the two countries.
* kapac님에 의해서 게시물 이동되었습니다 (2007-08-14 05:20) |
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Copyright
(C) 2007 All
Rights Reserved by The Korean
American Public Affairs Committee
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