Park's perseverance pays off

By Kim Tae-gyu

North Korea agreed Sunday to hold a ministerial meeting with South Korea in Seoul on Wednesday, raising hopes that tension on the Korean Peninsula will ease.

Pyongyang is apparently changing from its hostile posture, and analysts say this reflects Park’s firm stance on her two-track trust-building process is working.

“Compared to her predecessor Lee Myung-bak, President Park showed the virtue of consistency in dealing with North Korea,” said Chang Yong-seok, a senior researcher at the Institute of Peace and Unification Studies affiliated with Seoul National University.

“As Park has reiterated the principles of opening the door to talks while not giving in to threats and aggression, North Korea seems to have changed its stance toward negotiations.”

Such a two-track approach is Park’s flagship North Korea policy dubbed the “Korean Peninsula Trust Process.”

Chang said the North’s unprecedentedly strong brinkmanship on nuclear issues and the resultant estrangement with its only benefactor with China were the foremost reason for the country’s policy shift.

But he added that Park’s consistency deserves credit. Chang worked for the late former President Roh Moo-hyun, who adopted a progressive approach to the North.

The resumption of talks is one thing, but any substantial agreement is another.

Still, hopes are running high for some after the North proposed discussing not only the Gaeseong complex but also tours to Mt. Geumgang and reunions of families separated by the Korean War (1950-53).

Most watchers expect that Gaeseong will be the more urgent issue than the tour programs because the latter has so many complicated problems to be tackled.

But some counter that the North will want to prioritize Mt. Geumgang.

“North Korea is about pride. It doesn’t want to give the impression that it turned to dialogue to secure dollars coming from Gaeseong,” said a Seoul analyst who asked not to be named.

“The chances are that it will start with family reunions first at Mt. Geumgang before tackling Gaeseong and the resumption of tours to the mountain,” he said.

“It will say that the talks are not about money but about reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula. Then, it will be able to save its face without losing sources of dollars.”

Operations at the Gaeseong complex came to a halt in April _ the first time since its launch in the early 2000s _ after the North pulled out all of its 50,000 workers there in the midst of escalating tension on the peninsula.

Most analysts predicted that the North would not shut down the complex that offers almost $80 million every year to the cash-strapped country, but they were proven wrong by the unexpected maneuver by Pyongyang.

Mt. Geumgang tourism programs started in 1998 and almost 2 million South Koreans visited the scenic site but they were halted in 2008 after a female South Korean tourist was shot dead at the resort by a North Korean guard.

Also at issue is whether or not Seoul will allow South Korean citizens to visit Gaeseong to participate in an event held on the occasion of the 13th anniversary of the June 15 South-North Joint Declaration in 2000.

South Korea disallowed the visit on the grounds that dialogue between the two governments should come first.