Lee Myung-bak to Revise Sunshine Policy

An inter-Korean economic cooperation office to support South Korean firms in North Korea has opened in a joint industrial complex in the North’s border city of Gaeseong. The four-story building has high-tech facilities including an information-technology conference room, an education room and a pavilion for products made in the industrial park. The opening ceremony took place last Friday. / Yonhap

By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter

The decade-long ``sunshine'' policy of engaging North Korea carried on by two liberal South Korean presidents is expected to face its biggest challenge under the incoming Lee Myung-bak government.

President-elect Lee of the conservative Grand National Party (GNP) has pledged to take a tougher but more pragmatic line on North Korea than those of his predecessors ― Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun ― who have often been criticized for ``giving much but receiving very little.''

``The results of the election showed South Koreans have increasingly turned against the country's engagement policy toward North Korea over the past 10 years,'' a GNP spokesman said. ``Many people think that the South has given much to North Korea and it's enough now. They want the government to focus on its own people rather than those across the border.''

Lee made it clear that South Korea will demand more reciprocity from North Korea and not hesitate to criticize the North's ``shortcomings,'' such as its human rights situation.

``I assure you that there will be a change from the previous government's practice of avoiding criticism of North Korea and unilaterally flattering it,'' Lee said in a nationally televised press conference Dec. 20, a day after the election. ``Criticism that comes with affection can help make North Korean society healthy and improve the lives of its people in the long run.''

Human Rights Issue

The President-elect was apparently referring to Seoul's recent abstention from a United Nations vote condemning human rights abuses in North Korea.

Under Roh's direction, South Korea abstained from the legally non-binding vote last month, inviting criticism from human rights groups at home and abroad.

The communist North has long been criticized for human rights violations including torture, public executions and political prison camps.

According to a government report, about 200,000 North Koreans are currently forced to work in concentration camps without any judiciary proceedings.

Pyongyang refuses to deal with the repatriation of South Korean prisoners of war (POWs) and those allegedly kidnapped by the North.

Thousands of South Koreans are believed to have been abducted during and after the 1950-53 Korean War, and about 500 POWs are alive in the North, according to government data.

But Seoul has not taken up the human rights issues openly for fear of harming cross-border economic projects under the sunshine policy.

Since 2003, Seoul has voted for a U.N. resolution on North Korea's human rights record only once, last year, following the North's test-launches of missiles and first-ever nuclear test.

Conservative groups have expressed high hopes that the next government will put a higher priority on resolving the North's human rights problems.

``By resolving North Korea's human rights violations, along with the stalemate over its nuclear weapons program, South Korea will be able to nudge the North to make changes,'' said Lee Mi-il, president of the Korean War Abductees Family Union.

Denuclearization Before Aid

Under the Lee Myung-bak administration, South Korea's aid programs for the poverty-stricken North are expected to be implemented in tandem with progress toward the abolishment of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, though the basic framework of the engagement policy will be maintained, North Korea experts here say.

In the Dec. 20 news conference, Lee reiterated the importance for North Korea's efforts to get rid of all nuclear weapons before Seoul aids for Pyongyang.

``I will persuade North Korea that the abandonment of its nuclear program will bring greater benefits for maintaining the regime and its people,'' said the former Seoul mayor.

A former star CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction, Lee has said he will maintain dialogue, but will review the sunshine policy and decide which parts to keep or discard.

His flagship pledge on North Korea is aimed at providing economic assistance over the next 10 years to help it open up more and boost its per capita national income to $3,000 by then.

The aid policy has been regarded as much softer than policies that establishment conservatives have adopted. Lee, however, has made it clear that the aid will be provided only after North Korea gives up its nuclear ambition.

Under the Feb. 13 deal with the United States, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia, North Korea has begun disabling its main nuclear facilities in Yongbyon.

The North is required to provide a complete list of all its nuclear programs, weapons and equipment that will be subject to dismantlement.

Cross-Border Business Projects

Many North Korea experts anticipate that cross-border relations could be chilled for the time being if Lee decides to cut back on South Korean aid in a bid to promote more straightforward economic ties.

The President-elect has pledged to ``review every inter-Korean accord'' struck during a summit between Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim jong-il in October in Pyongyang.

The two leaders agreed on a comprehensive package of South Korean-backed cross-border economic projects including building a ``peace and economic cooperation zone'' in the area near the disputed western waters.

A state-run economic institute estimated the cost of Roh's proposed economic programs at over $50 billion.

``Any inter-Korean accords made without resolving the nuclear issue are meaningless,'' said Nam Sung-wook a professor of North Korean studies at Korea University in Seoul, who has been advising the President-elect on policy.

``The Lee Myung-bak administration will review all summit accords in a careful and measured way,'' Nam said. ``But the bottom line is the agreements will not be implemented without the dismantling of Pyongyang's nuclear programs.''

He said large-scale cross-border projects such as the reconnection of the western Gyeonggui line are expected to take a backseat until the domestic economy is revived, while existing programs including the Kaesong (Gaeseong) Industrial Complex and Mount Geumgang tourism business are to be maintained with a focus on bring more economic benefits to the South.

Nam painted a cloudy picture for the ``peace zone'' project, citing the lingering disputes over the western maritime border, the Northern Limit Line (NLL).

The NLL, drawn up by the U.S.-led United Nations Command at the end of the Korean War, has served as the de facto sea border. Pyongyang rejects recognizing the line, calling for a redrawing of the border, but Seoul maintains a firm stance that this cannot be a matter of discussion, as it sees it as a territorial concession.

Since the second inter-Korean summit, however, the Roh government has taken a flexible stance toward a rearrangement of the NLL, triggering criticism from conservatives.

The President-elect pledged earlier that the NLL should be maintained until the reunification of the Korean Peninsula.

The special business zone will encompass the estuary of the Han River and the North's Haeju port. A few joint fishing areas will be designated around the NLL for vessels from both Koreas and a South Korean-backed industrial complex will be built in the area under the plan.

Critics argue the plan could eventually neutralize the NLL, while supporters say it will help ease sea border tensions, given that about 60 percent of North Korea's naval forces are stationed in the Haeju region.

``The rapprochement between South and North Korea through economic cooperation would certainly keep going ahead under the Lee government,'' said Hong Soon-jik, a senior researcher of the Hyundai Research Institute. ``But it is certain that it may go a little more slowly than now, undergoing a thorough review of inter-Korean affairs.''

gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr