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President Lee Myung-bak outlined the principles of the new administration’s inter-Korean relations in April 2008, declaring an end to his predecessor’s “Sunshine Policy” of engaging North Korea.
He made it clear that Seoul would stop offering economic aid to Pyongyang with no strings attached. The CEO-turned president also pointed out that he would seek inter-Korean projects that benefit both South and North Korean economies in return for the latter abandoning its nuclear program.
Many doubted his reciprocal policy would work but now, more than three years later, some observers have begun to see Lee’s patience and his pragmatic policy toward North Korea finally bear fruit.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il agreed last Wednesday to “unconditionally rejoin” the stalled six-nation talks aimed at resolving its nuclear standoff during his summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
Kim also expressed support for the construction of a pipeline that would stream Siberian natural gas through the North to South Korea, the fourth largest economy in Asia.
If the deal is finalized, Pyongyang could earn up to $100 million each year in handling fees on the gas transit, while the energy-hungry South would have access to cheaper gas imports.
Rep. Hong Joon-pyo, chairman of the governing Grand National Party (GNP), praised Lee’s pragmatic inter-Korean policy in a forum held Tuesday in the western port city of Incheon.
“The inter-Korean gas pipe project is what President Lee dreamed of when he was CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction,” the GNP chairman said. “He has been working on the project quietly from the early days of his administration.”
Hong noted that the deal would help ease inter-Korean tensions and bring much-needed hard currency to the communist North.
He claimed that Russia and two Koreas will soon finalize the details of the lucrative energy project as Seoul has already reached a bilateral agreement with Moscow over the deal.
“If working-level officials of the three nations come to an agreement, the trans-Korean gas pipeline project could start,” Hong said. “The project would open a new chapter for inter-Korean relations.”
During the forum, Hong also urged his conservative party to ease its hard-line policy on the North ahead of next year’s parliamentary and presidential elections.
“The GNP has been accused of being an anti-unification, warmonger group. But time has come for the party to change direction toward the North,” Hong said. “The party will also look into the problems in the Gaeseong Industrial Complex to find ways to revitalize it.”
Despite frequent tensions between the two Koreas, the joint industrial park in the North Korean border city has been in operation since 2004 without any major interruptions.
The unification ministry said that this year’s first-half output at the Gaeseong complex rose to $192 million, up 20.2 percent compared to last year.
The Lee administration gave up the engagement-oriented Sunshine Policy that the two liberal administrations adopted for a decade, because the South’s unconditional economic and humanitarian assistance did not change the attitude of the belligerent North.
Opponents claim that Pyongyang provided a large portion of the South’s food aid to the military and secretly developed and tested nuclear weapons with the money that Seoul handed over.
Upon taking office, Lee promised to help the North achieve a per-capita gross national product of $3,000 on the condition that it completely abandons its nuclear weapons ambitions and open up the country.
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