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| Members of the Gaeseong Industrial Complex Companies Association celebrate the reopening of the inter-Korean project with applause at the association's office in Seoul, Thursday. The governments of the two Koreas agreed to resume operations at the complex in the North's border city of Gaeseong during negotiations Wednesday. / Yonhap |
By Chung Min-uck
Inter-Korean relations are anticipated to enter a reconciliatory phase, prompted by an agreement between the two Koreas Wednesday to reopen the shuttered Gaeseong Industrial Complex (GIC).
"The door to dialogue has been opened for the South and North," said Yang Moo-jin, professor at the University of North Korean Studies. "There will be progress in outstanding inter-Korean issues such as reactivating family reunion programs, tours to Mount Geumgang, and also restarting the six-party talks."
Both sides made strategic concessions on the GIC by admitting joint responsibility for the near-five month shutdown and promised to cooperate closely on globalizing the complex.
Experts say the understanding reached will lay a foundation for mutual trust-building and exert a positive influence on other aspects of their relations.
Family reunion programs that have been shelved since 2010 during the former hard-line Lee Myung-bak administration are considered to be the most easily approachable issue because both sides have already conveyed their intentions to reopen the GIC.
Last month the North proposed holding working-level talks to discuss reestablishing family reunion programs and tours of Mount Geumgang. But the North soon withdrew its offer after the South only accepted to discuss the possibility of reunions, citing the standoff over GIC.
President Park Geun-hye, in her address Thursday marking the 68th anniversary of Liberation Day, made a fresh offer to the North that reunions of families separated during the Korean War (1950-53) could be possible during the Chuseok holiday next month.
Regarding tours to the North's resort area, Seoul has long demanded a formal apology from Pyongyang for the death of a South Korean tourist shot on the mountain in 2008, as well as improved measures for the safety of tourists.
"I believe the North will make an official apology for the incident," said Rep. Park Jie-won, a North Korean expert and former floor leader of the main opposition Democratic Party. "Then the Seoul government will save face and engage in talks for a resumption of the tours."
Taking advantage of the momentum, some experts are calling on the two sides to move on to new projects such as a peace park that President Park suggested could be built inside the demilitarized zone.
However, concerning the nuclear issue, experts cautioned against addressing this separately of the prevailing conciliatory mood because Pyongyang has not yet taken any steps to scrap its nuclear programs.
Gong Yuzhen, a professor of international affairs at Peking University, told the state-run China Daily that the agreement does move the situation regarding the Korean Peninsula forward, but there are still reasons to remain cautious.
"However, we cannot be too optimistic. The possibility of the situation worsening on the Korean Peninsula still remains because the structural problems between Seoul and Pyongyang have not been resolved," the paper quoted Gong as saying.
The six-party talks established to end North Korea's nuclear ambitions have been stalled since 2009, when Pyongyang walked out of them.
Nations that are involved including South Korea, the United States, Japan and Russia want North Korea to come forward to the table after promising to take concrete steps toward denuclearization, whereas, China and North Korea want a resumption of the talks without any preconditions.
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