By Kim Yon-se, Michael Ha
Korea Times Correspondent, Staff Reporter
WASHINGTON ― This week, the debate over South Korea's new policy toward Pyongyang is taking place thousands of miles away from Seoul.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, currently on an official five-day visit to the United States, has been expressing his usual hawkish view to the news media and to U.S. dignitaries this week.
But another South Korean dignitary is also touring the United States with an important mission: former South Korean president Kim Dae-jung who is visiting the United States and defending his pro-engagement "Sunshine Policy" toward Pyongyang.
Kim is making the case--in a series of talks and speeches during his trip--that his pro-engagement Sunshine approach still represents the best option to bring peace and eventual reunification to the Korean Peninsula.
President Lee from the conservative Grand National Party arguably represents a break from past South Korean administrations in regard to North-South relations, in that he would embrace a tougher, more hawkish stance in dealing with Pyongyang.
Lee's administration has recently stated that economic and other humanitarian aid toward the North will in part depend on North Korea's denuclearization progress.
Indeed, Lee's criticism of his predecessors--and how they offered huge amounts of economic aid to Pyongyang without making demands in return--proved popular with many South Korean voters during the presidential campaign last year.
And during his current visit to the United States, President Lee has also been making it clear that his North Korean approach would remain more hawkish compared with his predecessors.
In an interview with The Washington Post on Thursday, President Lee noted that future economic aid to the North would be "tied to Pyongyang's denuclearization effort."
"My predecessors attached greater importance to inter-Korean relations than the nuclear settlement," President Lee said. "But my new government will prioritize the denuclearization of North Korea. It's important to persuade the North that abandonment of its nuclear program would be economically beneficial."
But former president Kim Dae-jung, also making a visit to the United States, is defending his legacy of pro-engagement "Sunshine Policy" toward North Korea.
In a series of interviews and speeches that include lectures at the University of Portland and Harvard University, Kim is making the case that his Sunshine Policy remains the best option to bring reconciliation and eventual unification of the Korean Peninsula.
In a speech at the University of Portland on Thursday, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate explained how his pro-engagement policy has been bringing the two Koreas closer together.
"The June 15 inter-Korean summit held in 2000 broke down the wall of the Cold War and animosity between the two Koreas, which lasted for more than a half century, and opened the road of exchange and collaboration," Kim said.
"The world is supporting my Sunshine Policy, which suggests problem settlement through peaceful means like dialogue," Kim said. "Tensions on the Korean peninsula have dramatically eased, and economic, cultural and tourism exchanges are progressing. These developments are playing a significant role in promoting inter-Korean peace and ending the Cold War."
"As long as I am alive, I will continue to do my utmost for the reconciliation of Korean people and world peace, with conviction that it is a mission given to me by God."
In interviews with news media this week, former president Kim--in a possible effort to promote the Sunshine Policy to Lee administration--suggested that current president Lee Myung-bak would be smart enough to understand how valuable the Sunshine Policy has been in easing tension between the two divided Koreas.
Indeed, there have also been some sign this week that President Lee might be becoming a little less hawkish and embrace a more pro-engagement approach toward Pyongyang.
In the interview with The Washington Post, President Lee added that his administration, if possible, would like to open a permanent liaison office in Pyongyang and also invite North Korea to do likewise in Seoul.
kys@koreatimes.co.kr
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