Time Running Out
Koreans should consolidate Northsouth rapport independent of the U.S.
The author is an op-ed contributor to Beijing Review and a senior researcher on international studies way, merely expressing “strong regret” about the incident even as the ROK media called the promised new law an act of censorship. This lack of ROK understanding about the seriousness of the situation aggravated the DPRK response.
On April 20, 2018, a hotline was set up between Kim Jong Un and ROK President Moon Jae-in. But after their meeting in Panmunjom later in the month, the hotline was hardly used. If the two leaders had resorted to it to communicate directly with each other, perhaps the tension would not have escalated.
For both countries, the most important thing at the moment is to calm down and find a rational solution as it will be harder than ever for them to get the relations back on track after new setbacks.
U.S. role
international affairs independently. The more the ROK relies on its alliance with the U.S., the more tense inter-korean relations will become. Moreover, the protracted deadlock between the DPRK and the ROK may lead to the latter eventually abandoning its responsibility to promote the relations and eventually, when problems arise, rely on U.S. support to address them.
In 2018, great progress was made in interKorean relations. Kim Jong Un and Moon held their first meeting and signed the Panmunjom Declaration on April 27, agreeing to complete denuclearization and upgrade their armistice agreement into a peace treaty. Then came the Pyongyang Declaration on September 19 the same year to end hostile relations, followed by
a comprehensive military agreement to ban all hostile acts.
But since then, there has been little progress. No regular high-level exchanges have been held and the result has been a natural accumulation of problems and doubts springing out of the indifference. Subsequently, when problems appear, due to the long inaction, the ROK is unable to respond appropriately, further complicating the situation.
Need for communication
In the case of the leaflets, for example, the ROK says it cannot restrict freedom of speech.
However, where the law is concerned, freedom of speech is never unlimited, even in Western countries.
Moreover, both the DPRK and the ROK are sovereign countries and members of the UN. Agreements between their governments should also be binding on their citizens. Any words or actions that undermine such agreements should be restricted or banned.
Reconciliation between the two nations is a complicated issue going beyond signing a few documents. It needs plenty of detailed work, patience and sincerity. This is particularly true now that the U.S. has continued to impose extreme sanctions on the DPRK.
In the past three decades, little was done on the social and psychological level except for signing some inter-governmental documents. Since 2018, the ROK has made little effort to enhance exchanges with the DPRK.
Denuclearization talks between the DPRK and the U.S. have also stalled since the second summit between Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump ended with no agreement in February 2019. The DPRK has displayed anger and disappointment over the deadlocked negotiations and wanted the ROK to play a more significant role to push the U.S. to return to the negotiation table.
Moon’s presidency will end in 2022. In the time that remains, it is of paramount importance to find a way for the two nations to resume communication, not only at the highest level but also people-to-people exchanges. The task is arduous but can be done with sincerity and patience.