South Korean Politics and Elections

Candidates Split Over Approach to North Korea

Korea Times, November 22, 2007

By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter

Candidates from the conservative and liberal camps have called for sharply different approaches toward communist North Korea.

The three leading candidates _ Lee Myung-bak of the conservative Grand National Party (GNP), Chung Dong-young of the liberal United New Democratic Party and independent Lee Hoi-chang _ share the importance for achieving peace on the Korean Peninsula through the abolishment of North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

But they are split over how to achieve that goal.

Lee Myung-bak

Lee, who is regarded as a center-right politician, earlier this year unveiled campaign pledges on North Korea, aiming to achieve both the North's denuclearization and openness.

His ``Vision 3030'' policy calls for continued economic assistance to the poverty-stricken northern neighbor over the next 10 years with other countries to help the North undergo economic reform and boost the North Korean per capita national income to $3,000 by then.

Even if Lee has made it clear that the key precondition to the economic aid policy is North Korea's full denuclearization, political pundits regard his pledges as much softer than those of establishment conservatives.

The former Seoul mayor, who wants to become an ``economic president,'' also promised to adopt a conciliatory approach to sensitive issues such as the repatriation of South Korean abductees and prisoners of war (POWs) in the North.

Lee said he is willing to provide North Korea with ``enough economic compensation'' for the return of the South Koreans.

The Seoul government has been reluctant to deal with the humanitarian issue for fear of damaging inter-Korean relations.

According to a government report, about 480 South Korean citizens kidnapped by the North after the 1950-53 Korean War are thought to be alive.

The GNP standard-bearer, however, maintains a firm position on the issue of the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea, which Pyongyang refuses to recognize as a sea border.

Lee said the NLL should be maintained until Koreas are reunified because it is the maritime military demarcation line.

Jeong Seong-jang, a researcher of the state-run Sejong Institute think tank, said, ``Without scrapping North Korea's nuclear weapons program, nothing can be achieved whether it's a normalization between the United States and North Korea, or peace of the peninsula. In that context, Lee's North Korea policy is reasonable.''

However, Park Young-ho, a researcher of the Korea Institute for National Unification, expressed concern that a policy putting the top priority on denuclearization before economic aid could possibly harm confidence-building process between the two Koreas.

Chung Dong-young

A hardcore advocate for the ``sunshine policy'' of engaging the North, Chung stresses that facilitating inter-Korean economic cooperation and resolution of North Korea's nuclear problem should be handled simultaneously.

Chung, in particular, promotes the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, an inter-Korean business park located in the North's border city of Gaeseong, as one of his major achievements. The complex was built when Chung served as unification minister between 2004 and 2005.

Chung, an anchorman-turned-politician, announced his campaign pledges calling for a triangular economic bloc connecting Haeju, Gaeseong in the North and South Korea's western port city of Incheon.

He said if elected, he will help South Korea's small- and mid-sized firms advance into North Korea to develop the country's light industry.

As part of his ``peace-focused visions,'' Chung also pledged efforts to replace the current armistice on the peninsula with a permanent peace treaty after formally ending the Korean War in about five years. He envisioned a plan to establish an inter-Korean confederation.

Chung is in favor of negotiating the NLL issue with the North, while being reluctant to address alleged human rights violations in the Stalinist state in consideration of inter-Korean relations.

Hong Gwan-hee, a researcher of the Institute for National Security Strategy, was negative about Chung's North Korea policy focused on economic aid.

``I don't believe a North Korea policy without linking to North Korea's nuclear issue or humanitarian record will be successful,'' said Hong.

Some experts, however, believe Chung's engagement policy would likely bear fruit boosted by improved cross-border ties and progress at the six-party talks aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear ambition.

Lee Hoi-chang

Unlike Lee and Chung, who basically want to maintain a conciliatory policy toward Pyongyang, Lee Hoi-chang, an ultra-conservative independent, calls for a hardball North Korea policy based on ``strategic mutualism.''

He places top priorities on scrapping North Korea's nuclear weapons program to reduce tensions between the two militaries.

Lee, a former GNP chairman, vows to deal with sensitive issues such as North Korean economic reform, openness, repatriation of South Korean POWs and abductess in exchange for economic assistance.

A former Supreme Court judge, Lee criticizes both Lee Myung-bak and Chung for pursuing policies that eventually help the North develop nuclear weapons power rather than resolve the nuclear problem. He particularly attacks the GNP candidate for what he calls his ``ambiguous'' North Korea policy.

He pledged to reconstruct a conservative policy line through a drastic review of policies vis-a-vis the North, and by strengthening South Korea-U.S. alliance.

Some analysts say Lee's hard-line policy would be effective in rectifying problems resulting from a decade of North Korean engagement attempts by South Korea, while others are worried the hawkish policy would backpedal inter-Korean relations.

``Going back to the previous hard-line policy after discarding results that have been produced by the long-time engagement policy is not a good option,'' said Professor Koh Yu-hwan of Dongguk University in Seoul.

Others

Moon Kook-hyun, the candidate of the environmentally-friendly Creative Korea Party, has presented plans to build a regional economic bloc linking the two Koreas to Russia as an inducement to North Korea.

Rhee In-je, the standard-bearer of the Democratic Party, pledged to construct a special inter-Korean maritime, economic zone.

Kwon Young-ghil, the candidate of the Democratic Labor Party, calls for disbanding the Korea-U.S. alliance and putting an end to the 1950-53 Korean War by 2008. The Korean War ended in an armistice not a peace treaty.

gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr

Lack of POW deal called ‘criminal’

JoongAng Daily, October 5, 2007

Families of both South Korean prisoners of war and kidnapping victims still alive in North Korea expressed frustration and disappointment yesterday that their issues were not addressed, even as the two sides agreed to expand reunions.

“There is absolutely no improvement in our situation,” Choi Sung-yong, head of the Abductees’ Family Union, said angrily. “The government just lacks any determination to resolve this matter.”

Choi’s father, Choi Won-mo, was abducted to the North in 1967 during a fishing expedition.

“Before Kim Dae-jung went to Pyongyang for the first summit in 2000, we made numerous appeals to him to address repatriation of the South Koreans abducted to North Korea,” Choi said. “Kim agreed to send 63 communist prisoners back to the North, but our issue was not even mentioned. Seven years have passed, and there is nothing for us again.”

President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il did agree to conduct more reunions of families separated since the 1950-53 Korean War.

They said the two countries will allow the separated families to exchange video letters and hold routine meetings after the construction of a reunion center at Mount Kumgang is completed.

According to the Defense and Unificaton Ministries, 560 prisoners of war and 480 kidnap victims have not returned from North Korea. It is not known how many are still alive.

Do Hee-yun, secretary general of the civic group Citizen’s Coalition for Human Rights of Abductees and North Korean Refugees, said the agreement is not only unsatisfactory but “criminal” to the families of kidnap victims and POWs held in the North.

“The two Koreas have allowed some families of kidnap victims and POWs to join the separated family reunions, comprising about five to ten percent of the attendants every time,” Do said.

“That, however, cannot be a fundamental solution,” he said. “The latest accord apparently reconfirms the two Koreas’ intention to continue dealing in this matter just the same as other separated families.”

Do said the clock is ticking because South Korean POWs held in the North are aging after a separation of more than a half-century from their families, and Seoul’s responsibility for them is particularly high.
About 30 people protested in front of the Blue House yesterday to denounce the Roh administration’s poor treatment of the issue at the inter-Korean summit.

By Ser Myo-ja Staff Writer

US Urged to Help Return Abductees

By Sa Eun-young
Staff Reporter

The Korean War Abductees Family Union (KWAFU) plans to submit a resolution to the U.S. Congress asking Washington to discuss the issue of South Korean wartime abductees during talks on a peace regime with North Korea.

Republican congressmen Frank Wolf and Edward Royce have shown interest and offered to present the resolution, according to KWAFU President Lee Mi-il.

Lee emphasized that the issue of returning wartime abductees is one involving human rights, and in order for a proper peace agreement to take place the North must admit its past wrongdoings. North Korea has denied all abduction claims.

The number of civilians presumed to have been abducted to North Korea exceeded 80,000 in 1