President Park's drive for unification to gain speed
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President Park Geun-hye tries on shoes at a shop at the Seomun Traditional Market in Daegu, Monday. Park visited the market after receiving a policy briefing from officials of the Daegu Metropolitan Government at the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology. This was her second visit to Daegu, her largest political stronghold, in five months. / Yonhap
By Yi Whan-woo
South Korea plans to expand dialogue channels involving ministries, politicians and scholars in China to flesh out President Park Geun-hye’s unification diplomacy, sources said Monday.
Seoul’s move to speed the groundwork for Park’s push for cooperation with China for the unification of the two Koreas came after she said on Sept. 4 that Seoul and Beijing will soon begin discussions on ways to unite the Korean Peninsula.
The two sides will promote exchanges to boost shared interest in related issues, sources said.
National Security Office chief Kim Kwan-jin will hold talks with Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi. A director-general of the foreign ministry and a deputy director-general of the defense ministry from each country will also hold meetings.
Researchers from state-run think tanks will discuss security issues, and lawmakers from Seoul’s main political parties and members of China’s Communist Party will also meet, according to sources.
“We’ll not create new channels but instead will fully operate the existing ones with our respective counterparts to keep in contact and meet in person more often,” a Cheong Wa Dae official said on condition of anonymity.
He said that Kim Kwan-jin’s predecessor, Kim Jang-soo, and Yang held a bilateral dialogue only once in November 2013 after Park and Chinese President Xi Jinping made an agreement to set up such a channel during their summit in June of that year.
On the return flight from her three-day visit to China, Park said she and Xi recognized the importance of Seoul-Beijing collaboration for inter-Korean unification in their bilateral summit, Sept. 2.
The summit was seen as a snub to North Korea, China’s traditional ally, and a dramatic turnaround for Sino-South Korean relations since the 1950-53 Korean War.
In accordance with Seoul’s efforts to enhance strategic dialogue with Beijing, South Korea’s envoy for the dormant six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear program is also stepping up efforts to discuss the issues with his U.S. and Chinese counterparts.
With its three nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013, Pyongyang’s development of nuclear weapons remains the biggest obstacle for inter-Korean unification and regional security involving all six members of the talks, including Japan and Russia. Kim Gunn, Seoul’s deputy envoy for the six-party talks, met his Chinese counterpart Xiao Qian in the South Korean capital, Monday, and discussed how to resume the dialogue among the related parties.
The six-party talks aimed at Pyongyang’s denuclearization have been dormant since 2008.
Xiao also met Hwang Joon-kook, Seoul’s top nuclear envoy who is scheduled to fly to Washington D.C. on Wednesday to meet his U.S. counterpart, Sung Kim.
Hwang is expected to meet U.S. security experts on the peninsula Friday as well before going to New York and meeting U.N. ambassadors from 15 member states of the U.N. Security Council. Hwang is expected to share his thoughts about Pyongyang’s development of nuclear missiles and other weapons of mass destruction before returning home on the weekend.
Experts said such efforts for dismantling Pyongyang’s nuclear program are crucial considering South Korea, the U.S., China and Japan are set or are planning to hold bilateral or multilateral summits starting later this month.
Xi will visit Washington D.C. in late September for a summit with U.S. President Barack Obama.
Park will embark on her U.S. trip, Oct. 16, during which she will hold her fourth summit with Obama since she took office in February 2013.
During Park’s Beijing visit last week, Park and Xi also agreed to hold a trilateral summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Seoul by the end of this year to promote cooperation among the three countries. Abe has not confirmed whether he will accept the three-way meeting.
“We’re at the critical moment to resolve North Korea’s nuclear threat,” said Park Won-gon, an international relations professor at Handong University.
“It’s necessary for us to convince Beijing to bring up issues for the agenda at the U.S.-China summit.
“Park can then add to what Xi and Obama went over to end Pyongyang’s nuclear program when the Seoul-Washington summit takes place a month after.
“Based on those discussions, Park, Xi and Abe can share their ideas about the six-party talks if they meet this year.
Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, agreed, saying, “Support for the six-party talks should precede talks for inter-Korean unification.”
Concerns over leaving NK behind
Observers, however, were divided over whether Park’s push for unification diplomacy with little interaction from North Korea may provoke the internationally isolated Kim Jong-un regime.
“I don’t see that Park considers North Korea as a partner in her unification policies and it’s possible Pyongyang may fire ballistic missiles on Oct. 10,” Yang said.
He referred to growing speculation that the regime may test-launch missiles on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the founding of its Workers’ Party.
Park Won-gon, disagreed.
“Such provocation could further deepen North Korea’s isolation and could stop the country from stepping forward for dialogue with the outside world over the long term,” he said.