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Roh, Kim Trying to Make Substantial Results
The top leaders of South and North Korea have met again to discuss ways of moving toward national reconciliation and strengthening cooperation. President Roh Moo-hyun and his northern counterpart Kim Jong-il held two sessions of summit talks in Pyongyang on Wednesday to lay the groundwork for a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula to end the world's last Cold War legacy. It is encouraging that they have affirmed their commitment to peace during the meeting.
Roh has reportedly proposed the creation of an inter-Korean economic community to bring co-prosperity both to the South and North. He discussed with Kim how to ease military tensions and restore mutual trust in a bid to move toward reunification. We welcome the second summit as Roh and Kim sat together to open the way for coexistence, cooperation, co-prosperity and peace. Fortunately the two leaders shared a broad consensus on establishing peace on the peninsula. It goes without saying that South and North Korea cannot have a brighter future without a solid peace mechanism. It is high time for the two rivals to take actual steps to end the Cold War and replace the 1953 armistice with a peace treaty.
First of all, denuclearization of the peninsula is indispensable to realizing the dream of permanent peace. It is fortunate that the North has already reaffirmed its commitments to disabling all its nuclear facilities by the end of this year. The six-nation nuclear disarmament talks have seen smooth sailing as Pyongyang agreed to the second-stage denuclearization blueprint. If the North faithfully implements this as promised, it can emerge as a dedicated member of the international community. Additionally, the world's last Stalinist country can stand a better chance of being removed from the U.S. blacklist of states sponsoring terrorism.
Pyongyang can also establish diplomatic relations with the United States and Japan when it completely dismantles its nuclear weapons programs. The isolated country will also be able to get more energy shipments, economic aid, security guarantees, diplomatic incentives and other rewards from the international community. That's why the North's denuclearization issue was one of the key issues during the summit. Following the resolution of the nuclear problem, the South can speed up its economic cooperation with the North. We expect the summit to serve as a catalyst to the North's irrevocable and verifiable denuclearization. Only after that can Seoul and Pyongyang start discussing ways of reducing troop numbers and weapons to ease military tension.
The highlight of the second summit is enhanced economic cooperation between the two Koreas. Before the summit, Roh stressed the importance of an economic community for mutual benefit. He has proposed to construct public infrastructure and set up another inter-Korean industrial park in the North, similar to the Gaeseong Industrial Complex. Under the proposal, the South is to provide capital, technology and managerial know-how to the North, while the latter will supply a skillful workforce and natural resources to manufacture goods. This will offer good business opportunities for South Korean firms. It is also expected to serve as a shot in the arm for the impoverished North. No doubt better economic and business ties will contribute to peace.
However, the two leaders reportedly showed some differences over the economic cooperation issue. In particular, Kim expressed skepticism over market opening and economic reform. He also expressed dissatisfaction about the speed of cooperation in the Gaeseong complex. Roh and Kim are scheduled to announce the outcome of the summit in the form of a joint declaration Thursday morning. We hope the two leaders will make substantial progress in forging better inter-Korean relations.
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