Business Day

Germany reticence on Korean peace deal puzzles observers

- Madeline Chambers Berlin

Politician­s and campaigner­s are urging Germany to use the lessons of its own reunificat­ion to help bring North and South Korea together, but Berlin is in no rush to take up the challenge.

A second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jongun planned for later this month has raised hopes for lasting peace on a peninsula divided since war there ended in a truce more than 65 years ago.

Reflecting that optimism, diplomats, politician­s and foreign policy experts say Germany, which has an embassy in Pyongyang, should be exploring back channels for talks, offering advice on treaty negotiatio­ns, and promoting dialogue.

But instead, in their opinion, it is falling short.

“Germany has a special role to play. Germany and the city of Berlin are for most Koreans symbols of reunificat­ion,” said South Korea’s ambassador to Germany, Jong Bum-goo. “Our government wants to integrate North Korea into the internatio­nal community but in my view the German government is still rather passive on this.”

Despite this, some former leaders of communist East Germany, Berlin’s Free University, some parliament­arians and civil society groups are engaging with North Korea.

While nobody is seriously talking about a German-style reunificat­ion in Korea, a thaw could lead to a peace deal that would usher in stability in northeast Asia.

A senior South Korean diplomat in Seoul said the government had not made any specific request of Berlin and was “grateful for Germany’s ongoing support for reconcilia­tion”.

However, many experts agree that Germany, one of the few countries with diplomatic relations with North and South Korea, and also with personal contacts in Pyongyang dating back to communist East German times, is being stubborn.

Hans Modrow, the last communist leader of East Germany, who took the late North Korean leader Kim Il-sung on a boat trip down the Elbe in 1984, maintains an active interest and visited both Koreas in September to discuss reunificat­ion.

The 91-year-old was scathing about Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Korea policy.

“The US president can have talks with the top man in North Korea but the Germans can’t even have their foreign minister have direct contact,” Modrow told Reuters “To achieve peace and security in Korea, we need more engagement.”

Others agree. “I would like a bit more courage from the German foreign ministry so that Germany, as a reunited country, claims a special status and supports dialogue and exchange,” said Nataly Jung-Hwa Han, head of the Berlin-based Korea Associatio­n, which promotes understand­ing of North Korea.

Foreign policy, which Merkel stresses is based on multilater­alism, is embedded in that of the EU and tends to follow the US line. On North Korea, this means joining sanctions aimed at ending its nuclear programme.

The criticism of Germany comes 18 months after South Korean President Moon Jai-in came to Berlin to appeal for support. “The end of the Cold War that started in Berlin will be completed in Pyongyang and Seoul, the new peace vision for North East Asia and worldwide will be implemente­d,” he said.

Last October, Moon visited Europe again, seeking support for possibly easing sanctions against North Korea once it makes progress on denucleari­sation. But his summit with the EU, in which Germany holds sway, failed to reach agreement.

Merkel has pledged to promote a peaceful solution of North Korean nuclear issues, but no action has followed.

FOREIGN POLICY, WHICH MERKEL STRESSES IS BASED ON MULTILATER­ALISM, IS EMBEDDED IN THAT OF THE EU AND TENDS TO FOLLOW THE US LINE

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