By Kim Tae-gyu
President Park Geun-hye is well known for sticking to her principles.
Her aides say that she rarely compromises to reach an easy solution in dealing with a tough task. Instead, she tries to get things right even if it takes time.
All eyes are on the President once again as her approach is giving her the initiative in dealing with North Korea on the reopening of the suspended inter-Korean joint industrial park in the North's border town of Gaeseong.
The success of Park's strategy could mean a loss for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ― political watchers point out that it would be a bitter pill to swallow for Kim to give in to Park over Gaeseong.
Park is counting on North Korea suffering far greater damage if the Gaeseong Industrial Complex (GIC) is shut down permanently.
"Up until now, Seoul has been overly low-profile with Pyongyang. But Park is different as she has kept her principles regarding policies on the North. I am not a big fan of Park but I must admit that she has done quite well in coping with the Gaeseong issue," said Prof. Son Tae-gyu at Dankook University.
"By contrast, Kim lost face because his regime effectively raised a truce flag to South Korea this week. He might prefer the survival of the GIC even at the expense of his pride because his regime so badly needs it."
In April, the North pulled all of its 53,000 workers from the GIC amid rising diplomatic tensions in the aftermath of the North's third nuclear test in February.
Thereafter, the two Koreas failed to find a happy medium despite six rounds of talks aimed at resuming operations at the GIC, which is the only remaining symbol of an inter-Korean economic partnership.
As Pyongyang remained silent on Seoul's "final" offer for dialogue, Seoul was thought to be preparing for the permanent closure of the complex, and the assumption gained weight Wednesday when the government disclosed its plan to pay out insurance claims to 123 companies that had operations there.
Late in the day, however, the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea came up with promises to scrap restrictions against the operation of the GIC, which earns as much as $90 million in hard currency for the cash-strapped communist regime, by returning the 53,000 workers to the complex.
It also accepted the proposal for a seventh round of meetings ― the two sides will meet on Aug. 14 at Gaeseong. Many interpreted the North's abrupt measures as a victory for Park's principle-first, perseverance approach.
By contrast, some warned against early complacency.
"If the South pushes for further concessions from the North, the upcoming talks may fall apart once again," said Chang Yong-seok, a researcher at the Institute of Peace and Unification Studies affiliated with Seoul National University.
"Then if the South faces a backlash overwhelmed by the sense of victory, it will be responsible for the setbacks. To avoid such a negative scenario, the South needs to be more flexible and strategic in dialogue with the North to reopen the Gaeseong complex instead of sticking to severely to its principles."
 |
| President Park Geun-hye |
Her aides say that she rarely compromises to reach an easy solution in dealing with a tough task. Instead, she tries to get things right even if it takes time.
All eyes are on the President once again as her approach is giving her the initiative in dealing with North Korea on the reopening of the suspended inter-Korean joint industrial park in the North's border town of Gaeseong.
The success of Park's strategy could mean a loss for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ― political watchers point out that it would be a bitter pill to swallow for Kim to give in to Park over Gaeseong.
Park is counting on North Korea suffering far greater damage if the Gaeseong Industrial Complex (GIC) is shut down permanently.
"Up until now, Seoul has been overly low-profile with Pyongyang. But Park is different as she has kept her principles regarding policies on the North. I am not a big fan of Park but I must admit that she has done quite well in coping with the Gaeseong issue," said Prof. Son Tae-gyu at Dankook University.
"By contrast, Kim lost face because his regime effectively raised a truce flag to South Korea this week. He might prefer the survival of the GIC even at the expense of his pride because his regime so badly needs it."
In April, the North pulled all of its 53,000 workers from the GIC amid rising diplomatic tensions in the aftermath of the North's third nuclear test in February.
Thereafter, the two Koreas failed to find a happy medium despite six rounds of talks aimed at resuming operations at the GIC, which is the only remaining symbol of an inter-Korean economic partnership.
As Pyongyang remained silent on Seoul's "final" offer for dialogue, Seoul was thought to be preparing for the permanent closure of the complex, and the assumption gained weight Wednesday when the government disclosed its plan to pay out insurance claims to 123 companies that had operations there.
Late in the day, however, the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea came up with promises to scrap restrictions against the operation of the GIC, which earns as much as $90 million in hard currency for the cash-strapped communist regime, by returning the 53,000 workers to the complex.
It also accepted the proposal for a seventh round of meetings ― the two sides will meet on Aug. 14 at Gaeseong. Many interpreted the North's abrupt measures as a victory for Park's principle-first, perseverance approach.
By contrast, some warned against early complacency.
"If the South pushes for further concessions from the North, the upcoming talks may fall apart once again," said Chang Yong-seok, a researcher at the Institute of Peace and Unification Studies affiliated with Seoul National University.
"Then if the South faces a backlash overwhelmed by the sense of victory, it will be responsible for the setbacks. To avoid such a negative scenario, the South needs to be more flexible and strategic in dialogue with the North to reopen the Gaeseong complex instead of sticking to severely to its principles."
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