Why did North call it off?

A South Korean soldier restricts access by a civilian at the Unification Bridge near the border village of Panmunjeom in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. Delegates from the North were supposed to cross the symbolic bridge, that links the two Koreas, separated since the Korean War (1950-53), to attend Wednesday’s inter-Korean meeting which was called off unilaterally by the North, Tuesday. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

By Chung Min-uck

North Korea unilaterally called off a government-to-government meeting between the two Koreas because South Korea did not want to hold annual ceremonies that commemorate inter-Korean joint statements, experts said, Wednesday.

South Korea, in the preliminary working-level meeting on Sunday, rejected the North’s proposal to include holding ceremonies marking the June 15 Joint Declaration and the July 4 Joint Statement as agendas for the now-canceled inter-Korean meeting which was due on Wednesday.

“North Korea’s initial aim for launching the South-North talks was to take the initiative in inter-Korean relations by holding joint ceremonies that involve private organizations in the South,” said a senior researcher at the state-run Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU), asking not to be named. “Following the working-level meeting, the North knew that the South Korean government would not allow interactions with South Korean organizations. So it lost steam for the meeting.”

Pyongyang, even when ratcheting up military threats against the South, has repeatedly called for Seoul to allow its non-governmental organization members to visit the North in order to take part in the June 15 event which took place annually at the Mt. Geumgang resort in North Korea until 2008.

Seoul views the move as a ploy to fuel internal discord in the South because many pro-North Korean civic groups attend the gathering.

The June 15 declaration reached at the historic 2000 summit meeting between late President Kim Dae-jung and late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il kicked off a period of rapprochement between the two countries that saw large scale bilateral cooperation and the expansion of economic ties.

The July 4 statement was reached under late former President Park Chung-hee and late North Korean founder Kim Il-sung in 1972. Park is the father of incumbent Park Geun-hye, while Kim Il-sung is the grandfather of Kim Jong-un, the current leader of the North.

As external factors for North Korea’s pullout from the meeting, experts point out U.S. and China’s firm commitment to denuclearize North Korea in their summit meeting that took place in California last Friday and Saturday.

North Korea proposed full-on dialogue with the South last Thursday, a day before the start of U.S.-China summit.

“Proposing Kang Ji-yong, a director at the North’s Committee for Peaceful Reunification is a representative three to four levels lower in status compared to the Unification Minister here,” said North Korean studies professor Yu Ho-yeol of Korea University. “That’s not showing the right attitude to resolve outstanding issues with the South. Seeing U.S. and China’s commitment on denuclearization, the North could have intentionally caused a rupture to the negotiations.”

Washington and Beijing, Pyongyang’s only remaining ally, are regarded as key players in the security conditions across the Korean Peninsula.

However, experts say that relations between the two Koreas will not become any worse at this point.

“Inter-Korean relations cannot be defined just by the South and North, and their bilateral issues,” said Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korean studies in Dongguk University in Seoul. “The relations include the positions of U.S. and China, and denuclearization particularly as agenda. It is now entering a dialogue phase.”

Kim further said that South Korea should show its ability to take the initiative in dynamics surrounding the peninsula which will move up the resumption of inter-Korean talks that was halted for six years.

President Park is bracing to meeting her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the end of this month which many experts see as an opportunity to push North Korea to engage in talks.