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| President Park Geun-hye, second from left, visits the Gruenes Gewoelbe (Green Vault) besides Saxony state governor Stanislaw Tillich, left, and Dirk Syndram, director of the Green Vault, third from left, in Dresden, Germany, Thursday. The Gruenes Gewoelbe enjoys is world renown as one of the richest treasure chambers in Europe. AP-Yonhap |
By Kim Tae-gyu and Chung Min-uck
DRESDEN ― President Park Geun-hye showed her firm commitment to laying the groundwork for a peaceful unification of the two Koreas in her historical speech in this former East German city.
She proposed a set of humanitarian and economic aid proposals to the North.
However, her tone was quite different from previous ones as she appeared to be less demanding in calling for the North to follow denuclearization conditions.
Experts say Park effectively put into action her Korean Peninsula Trust-building Process, a carrot-and-stick approach meant to induce the North to abandon its nuclear programs and open up to the world; along with her vision for Korean reunification.
Called the "Dresden Doctrine," the South's proposal to the North offers a comprehensive package of economic assistance.
"Some projects like extending humanitarian assistance and seeking cultural integration would begin without the North abandoning its nuclear programs," presidential secretary for foreign affairs Kim Hyoung-zhin said.
Park laid out a roadmap for how the two Koreas could work together to end the division that is nearly seven decades old by offering a bold package of aid and cooperation proposals.
Park proposed that the South build infrastructure in the North, train North Korean workers in various economic sectors, and help Pyongyang win international development funds.
However, it has yet to be seen how flexibly her administration will carry out her proposals.
Some analysts and presidential secretaries said it is still too early to expect a dramatic or abrupt arrival of detente on the Korean Peninsula.
They said how the North responds to Park's proposals will hold the key to easing tension.
Presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook said that the plans will only start when the North makes substantive moves toward giving up its nuclear ambitions.
"It depends on how the North reacts to the proposals," Min said. "It will be hard to carry out all the aid without sincere action by the North."
Analysts also remained cautious about the prospects of thawing the chilly ties between the two Koreas even after the declaration of the Dresden Doctrine.
"Park reaffirmed her long-held stance that North Korea sticking to its nuclear programs is unacceptable," said Ko Yoo-hwan, a professor of North Korea studies at Dongguk University in Seoul. "At the same time, Park successfully dispelled criticism that her North Korea policy has no action plans, by offering series of specific measures."
However, pundits still remain skeptical about the potential effectiveness of Park's policy.
"This is no new message to the North," said a North Korea analyst who declined to be named. "The North will not react positively unless Park carries out some groundbreaking appeasement policy. I don't think inter-Korean relations will improve anytime soon, at least until the end of the ongoing joint Korea-U.S. military exercise."
Notwithstanding Seoul and Washington's pressure to give up its nuclear programs, the North has repeatedly declared the country will never abandon its dual-track policy of developing a nuclear capability and achieving economic development.
Of late, the North also staged several military provocations, test-firing short-range rockets into the waters between Korea and Japan in protest against the ongoing joint Foal Eagle military exercise that will last until April 18.
On Thursday, North Korea also lashed out directly at Park for allegedly being ignorant about its nuclear program, calling her "a faithful servant and stooge" of the U.S.
The North's criticism came in response to Park's speech earlier in the week at a global nuclear summit in The Hague, during which she called for ending North Korea's nuclear program as the first step toward realizing a nuclear-free world.
South-North ties remain at low ebb even after the two Koreas held their first high-level talks in seven years last month.
Despite also holding reunions the same month for families separated by the Korean War, no concrete agreement was made between the two Koreas, with North Korea ruling out any unilateral denuclearization under any circumstances.
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