By Yi Whan-woo
The two Koreas are stepping up collaboration on cultural matters ahead of President Park Geun-hye’s visit to the United States from June 14 to 18.
Seoul and Pyongyang jointly launched a taskforce, Monday, to recover historic relics from the site of Manwoldae Palace in North Korea’s border city of Gaeseong for operations through November.
The now-demolished palace is one of 12 historical sites in Gaeseong that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) put on the world heritage list in 2013 for “exhibiting cultural and political values” of the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392).
Civilian representatives from the two counties are also negotiating where to host a joint cultural festival to mark the inter-Korean summit on June 15, 2000.
Such inter-Korean efforts are taking place before the summit between Park and U.S. President Barack Obama on June 16.
Park and Obama are expected to focus on North Korea’s growing military threats in the wake of its claim that it successfully test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) and developed technology to miniaturize nuclear warheads.
Analysts speculate that the ongoing Seoul-Pyongyang collaboration could help the Park government find a breakthrough in its dialogue with the Kim Jong-un regime amid Washington’s move to strengthen sanctions against the Stalinist state.
“It seems that North Korea is trying to deal with political and cultural issues separately,” said Chang Yong-seok, a senior researcher at the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies at Seoul National University. “It would be helpful to facilitate cultural exchanges between the two Koreas and then see if we can resume talks with the Kim regime.”
An official at the Ministry of Unification echoed a similar view.
“The North Korean leader has shown interest for years toward excavating the relics at the site Manwoldae Palace,” he said on condition of anonymity.
“It’s noteworthy that the two Koreas agreed to work on recovery of the historical monuments for the next six months. It’s a very rare case.”
The civilian representatives have been discussing where to run a joint festival to mark the 15th anniversary of the June 15 Declaration.
The landmark agreement was made between then-President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il during their inter-Korean summit in 2000. It calls for a peaceful unification of the two Koreas and has served as a symbol of inter-Korean reconciliatory efforts.
The civic groups are also debating where to mark the 70th anniversary of the Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule (1910-45) on Aug. 15.
“I would urge to enhance inter-Korean cooperation on civic level for the time being considering dialogue on a governmental level has deteriorated for years,” said Kim Yong-hyun, professor of North Korea studies at Dongguk University.
“It will be critical to make some improvement by the 70th anniversary of the Liberation Day. Otherwise, Park will have difficulty in mending Seoul-Pyongyang ties during the rest of her presidency.”