The government has released the details of its "major proposal" for North Korea, one it says will foster substantial progress in the fourth round of six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue set to open at the end of this month. If the North agrees to abandon its nuclear programs, then the light water reactor project will be scrapped and in its place the government will supply 2 million kilowatts of power to the North starting in 2008. There had been growing curiosity about the "major proposal" after it was conveyed to chairman Kim Jong Il by unification minister Chung Dong Young on June 17.
The government was right to tell the public about the proposal, since aid for the North is something about which there must be a national consensus. Aid must be transparent for the people to understand the intentions behind it and because policy that has the country's support is more effective. Making the process transparent is needed also because of the painful experience of the country had during the government of Kim Dae Jung, when the secret sending of funds to Pyongyang in the course of putting the summit together ended up becoming the subject of a court judgment.
Whatever volume of energy the South might send the North it will mean the South has to pay for it. The government says that the financial burden would be the same as the South had already agreed to hand over for the light water reactor project, so there would be no additional cost to the Southern public. Whatever the actual price, however, the country has to take the attitude that the cost of giving the North energy aid is an inevitable part of peacefully managing life together on the peninsula. We think it is a worthwhile investment if it means getting out of a situation where the whole country has to be nervous about the growing crisis on the peninsula resulting from the North Korean nuclear issue and about the confrontation between Pyongyang and Washington.
It would be a meaningful investment not only in regards to the nuclear issue but also if you look at the long term need to further intra-Korean cooperation and develop the community of the Korean people. It would be significant as the "price tag of peace" if it means a reduction in the massive defense and security spending on weaponry purchased because North and South continue to confront each other.
At Monday's meeting on intra-Korean economic cooperation it was decided that the South will give the North the materials it needs to produce things like clothing, shoes, and soap, and in return the North will give the South guarantees about investment in underground resources such as zinc, magnesite, apatite concentrate, and coal. That is notable as a new form of "give and take" business cooperation. If the best of the North's resources and labor and the South's capital and technology are put to use together then it will be possible to have economic cooperation that is mutually beneficial instead of unilateral help or benefit.
The South's active role in resolving the immediate problem of the North Korean nuclear issue as well as in promoting intra-Korean economic cooperation and in establishing a permanent peace on the peninsula and in Northeast Asia, is more important than ever. The government has indeed played a big role in getting the six-party talks restarted after much difficulty.
The "major proposal" will also be needed in solidifying international support. It will be necessary in getting the support and cooperation from the countries belonging to the six-party format and thereby peacefully achieving the goal of a "non-nuclear peninsula." If the North is going to give up its nuclear development plans and be a participating member of the international community there will have to be economic aid and credible multi-party security assurances. If that comes together and there is a continued accumulation of trust, it is then that the negotiations on the nuclear issue could be successful.
There is busy activity for the sake of peace on the peninsula, with US state secretary Condoleezza Rice visiting Seoul to discuss the six-party talks and promoting US-Korea relations. We hope that through thorough preparation it is made doubly sure there is substantial progress at the six-party talks, opening again as they are after much difficulty.
The Hankyoreh, 13 July 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] May the \'Major Proposal\' Lead to Peace |
