Inter-Korean relations in the wake of local elections

Now that Wednesday’s local elections have ended with an opposition party’s victory, attention is being drawn to a possible change in inter-Korean relations. This is based on the forecast that the government may have to adjust policy priorities to reflect public sentiment as expressed in the elections.

The election’s outcome demonstrated a desire among voters to check escalating tensions with the North in the aftermath of the sinking of the South Korean corvette. The government, stunned by the election result, cannot simply shrug off the public concerns. People are concerned about increasing tensions with North Korea and they want the government to approach the inter-Korean problems

from a calm, long-term perspective.

If the government interprets the election result as a desire among the people for easing tensions with North Korea, it may slow down sanctions, or soften its stance on Pyongyang in the wake of the sinking of the warship. However, the Ministry of Unification said Thursday that it would go ahead with the measures the government had already unveiled, regardless of the election outcome.

The ministry made it clear that there would be no change in the government’s position. Seoul is now pursuing a hard-line policy on North Korea, while Pyongyang seems intent on the survival of the privilege its leadership enjoys. Inter-Korean projects now face great challenges, including the North’s Mt. Geumgang, which had facilitated South Korean tours, and the Gaeseong

Industrial Complex, the first full-scale economic cooperation project between the two Koreas.

North Korea’s nuclear weapons project continues, and the inter-Korean agreements on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula have become virtually useless.

However, it will not be easy for the government to retract its hard-line stance unless North Korea makes a genuine, heartfelt apology for its torpedo attack on the South Korean Navy warship

Cheonan, which claimed 46 innocent lives. In particular, the efforts are now being made to refer the case to the U.N. Security Council. In this situation, it will not be easy for Lee Myung-bak and the ruling party to come to terms with the election outcome and change its policy toward the North.

The South Korean government does not want a continuing deadlock with the North. While deliberating on a revision to the 2007 basic plan for advancing inter-Korean relations, the government specified that if North Korea resolved to abandon its nuclear weapons program, South Korea would seek to expand inter-Korean economic cooperation together with the international community.

The critical factor in this situation is North Korea’s willingness to change.

Without a genuine effort on the North’s part to change policy, a dramatic improvement in inter-Korean relations is unlikely. North Korea should not misinterpret the election result. A fundamental change in the communist state’s

perceptions and policy is required.

http://world.kbs.co.kr/news_print.htm?lang=e&No=18508&Category=Issue