Haste Makes Waste

Seoul Must Be Careful About Inter-Korean Projects

The South Korean government plans to open an economic cooperation representative office in Pyongyang next year to promote inter-Korean cooperation, while allowing North Korea to set up such an office in Seoul. Then it will seek to upgrade the offices into permanent representative offices to play a role in liaising between the South and the North and ensure the safety of visitors.

The Roh Moo-hyun administration is also considering measures to lay the legal groundwork for South Koreans to hand over or bequeath their wealth to their separated family members living in the North. Such measures are contained in the ``First Basic Framework of Inter-Korean Relations'' that was presented to the National Assembly, Thursday.

First we welcome the recent developments related to improving ties between the two Koreas. There is no more important political agenda than inter-Korean relations. Since the second South-North summit was held in Pyongyang on Oct. 2-4, the two Koreas have been making efforts to produce tangible results in easing tensions and stepping up cooperation. During the Nov. 14-16 prime ministers' talks in Seoul, the two sides agreed to launch various economic cooperation projects to follow through on agreements reached between Roh and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

However, there are concerns that the Roh government is pushing for economic cooperation projects with the North too hastily. Critics even accuse the President of recklessly pressing ahead with such projects especially ahead of the Dec. 19 presidential election and only three months before his term ends. They point out that there might be a change in North Korea policy when a new president is inaugurated in February.

Roh has come under attack for being too generous in issuing carte blanche for many big-budget infrastructure projects in the North. The projects are feared to put a heavy financial burden on the next government. He should take financial matters into consideration before presenting various economic collaboration packages to the North. A local research institute estimated that at least 10 trillion won is required to implement the inter-Korean economic projects Roh pledged during his meeting with Kim.

The President is also criticized for making haste in boosting economic cooperation with the North at a time when the world's last Stalinist country is doing little to ease military tensions. He has to address the borderline dispute as Pyongyang is trying to replace the Northern Limit Line (NLL), a virtual maritime border with the North in the West Sea, with a new one. Defense ministers of the two Koreas are to meet in Pyongyang from Nov. 27-29 to discuss military and border issues. We expect the ministers will make substantial progress to create a more favorable environment for inter-Korean cooperation.

What's most important is North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Pyongyang has promised to disable its nuclear facilities by the end of this year in accordance with the Feb. 13 six-party denuclearization agreement. National reconciliation and peace cannot be achieved without complete denuclearization on the peninsula. President Roh and his staff should realize that it is not too late to push for inter-Korean economic projects after those issues are properly addressed. They must remember that haste makes waste.