Opposition Party Needs to Soften Hardline Stance
The conservative Grand National Party (GNP) caught people a little off guard with a recently revised policy package toward North Korea. The agenda, titled ``Vision for Peace on the Korean Peninsula,'' was an abrupt turnaround from its hitherto hardline policies on the communist North. It features proactive and progressive steps with the goal of inducing the reclusive North Korea toward openness, thus promoting peace and reconciliation on the peninsula.
The GNP has yet to overcome opposition from its hardline factions in the lead up to finalizing the new policies as its official platform. But they are drawing positive responses from party members as they highlight the party's shift toward more being more flexible and engaging with North Korea. The new policies are expected to be adopted in the end given that the party's two leading presidential hopefuls Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye have already welcomed them.
It is ironic that the new policies were mapped out by Rep. Chung Hyung-keun, a spy-turned lawmaker who has been regarded as one of the party's hardline conservative figures. Chung is said to be well informed on North Korea and is confident there will be an inter-Korean summit on the occasion of Liberation Day, which falls on Aug. 15. Against this backdrop, the GNP might have felt the need to adopt a new stance to brace for the possible whirlpool change in the security situation on the peninsula.
The party vowed it would support the possible inter-Korean summit if it addressed denuclearization and a peace settlement as well as the Mt. Geumgang tour programs, and business projects in the inter-Korean industrial complex in Gaeseong. It took a step further by seeking to set up business liaison offices in Seoul and Pyongyang, a full-fledged opening of North Korea's newspaper and broadcasting sectors and introducing some 30,000 industrial trainees from the North to the South.
The GNP came up with the decision wary of the rapidly changing security environment including the U.S. adoption of reconciliatory North Korea policies, which might adversely affect the party ahead of the forthcoming presidential election in December.
The politically-motivated policies, however, aroused skepticism over their feasibility and the party's willingness to realistically implement them. Some critics even described it as 2-month due insurance whose effect will terminate after August. The GNP believes one of its candidates will win in the December election as both Lee and Park are leading opinion polls over possible candidates from the governing camp. Furthermore, it felt the need to keep the pace while effectively coping with the possible repercussion from an abrupt change in inter-Korean relations. The party seems to have fears that such a change might help a governing camp candidate win the election, supported by President Roh Moo-hyun. It is also assessing the impact of a potential South-North summit on the presidential race.
Now the GNP needs to show a more sincere attitude in pushing for the new North Korea policies by hammering out more detailed and feasible measures while calming down intra-party criticism. Abstract policies lacking concrete measures to soften its stance on North Korea will only distance voters who are well aware and highly conscious of the political and security issues.
