Subscribe
E-Paper
North Korea unlikely to accept Yoon's offer
President Yoon Suk-yeol has proposed what he called the "audacious initiative" designed to provide comprehensive economic assistance to North Korea in return for its denuclearization. In his speech marking the 77th anniversary of Liberation Day on Monday, Yoon said the plan will help significantly improve North Korea's economy and its people's livelihoods in stages should the North begin a "genuine and substantive" process for denuclearization.
Yoon pledged to offer a large-scale food program, coupled with assistance for power generation, transmission and construction of infrastructure facilities such as ports and airports. "We will also help enhance the North's agricultural productivity and modernize its medical system and implement international and financial support plans," he said.
Yet such a plan seems to be a mere collection of similar ideas suggested by the previous administrations in a bid to persuade the North to relinquish its nuclear program. Worse still, it lacks detailed steps that could ease Pyongyang's security concerns arising from what it calls "antagonistic policies," prompting the North to step up its nuclear buildup.
The Ministry of Unification said in its report to the president last month it would prepare steps to mitigate North Korea's security anxiety paired with economic assistance in the bold initiative so that the North would no longer feel the need to continue its nuclear program. Yet such devices were not reflected in Yoon's statement. The bold initiative would be meaningless without concrete and practical plans to solicit the North to dialogue.
Skepticism has grown over the initiative as it has no novel ideas or a realistic approach. Such an initiative is reminiscent of the Denuclearization, Opening and 3,000 initiative proposed by the Lee Myung-bak administration, which ended in failure. The North has recently been escalating tension on the Korean Peninsula, apparently taking advantage of the growing great power rivalry between the United States and China. Its leader Kim Jong-un has even threatened to "destroy" the South Korean military, using harsh words against Yoon.
First Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo said the Yoon administration has also prepared political and military roadmaps during a briefing after Yoon gave the speech. The presidential office should present more concrete and viable measures that can lure the North back to negotiations and persuade the U.S. and the international community to ease economic sanctions against the North in return for its denuclearization steps.
Touching upon Seoul-Tokyo relations, Yoon stressed the need for the two neighbors to "combine efforts to jointly tackle the challenges threatening the freedom of the world's citizens." He also vowed to inherit the spirit of the Kim Dae-jung-Obuchi Declaration signed in 1998 wherein the two nations agreed to forge a future-oriented partnership based on Japan's sincere apology for inflicting atrocities on the Korean people during its colonial rule. Regrettably, however, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida sent an offering to the Yasukuni Shrine honoring Class-A war criminals. And two Cabinet ministers visited the shrine, which is seen as a symbol of Japan's past militarism. This shows the two countries can hardly mend their soured ties as long as Japan refuses to change its ways.
