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A curious tour of South
Korea
By Jaewoo Choo
SEOUL -
While the leaders of the Asia-Pacific states were
prodding each other toward a consensus on a nuclear-free
Korean Peninsula, a North Korean economic delegation was
touring South Korea. What is ironic is that both events
began on the same date, October 26.
Why?
Furthermore, the president of South Korea was out of the
country, and the Pyongyang delegation was supposedly there in accordance
with the joint declaration of the historic
inter-Korean summit in June 2000, as explained in its
arrival statement at Incheon Airport.
More food for thought regarding
the timing of the visit was that it
happened soon after Pyongyang's confession
that it is developing nuclear weapons. It also
occurred just 50 days before South Korea's presidential
election; what does this tell us, if we keep in
mind the North's involvement in more or less
indirect ways in previous election campaigns?
Finally, the delegation included a relative
of Kim Jong-il, the leader of North Korea.
Can we relate all
these considerations to draw some meaning from the
visit and its timing?
After
the revelation of the North's nuclear program, the issue
naturally became a priority at this year's Asia
Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. At bilateral, trilateral
and multilateral levels, the leaders worked hard at their
respective meetings to build common ground on the issue, but failed
to come up with any kind of specific means and
measures, as usual. Also as usual, China's President Jiang
Zemin would not say a word about China's possible role
in resolving the matter. Likewise, US President George W Bush kept
pushing his unilateral demands that North Korea first
halt its nuclear program and then talk - the same old
tactic that has been used for so long that it now sounds
like mere diplomatic rhetoric. And as usual, Japanese
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi failed to come up with
any specific ideas at the summit, despite the diplomatic
normalization talks scheduled for three days
later.
South Korean President Kim Dae-jung
went to the 10th APEC summit in Mexico with much confusion
on the issue, and left with no less confusion but
only concern about the South's treatment of the
North's economic delegation in his absence. Prior to
his departure to Los Cabos, Kim was briefed on the
North's alleged confession to having an enriched-uranium nuclear
program. After much heated discussion both inside and
outside the presidential Blue House on how, why, and by
whom the confession was made, he went to see his APEC
colleagues literally empty-handed, as reflected in his
satisfaction with the reading of a joint statement. The
statement was seen as putting the ball in North Korea's
court, implying that if the North wishes to receive the
economic assistance agreed to by the APEC nations, it
must halt all nuclear-weapons programs. Nonetheless, no
concrete discussions regarding the types or forms of the
announced assistance to the North took place.
Meanwhile, the North's economic delegation,
which is due to leave on Sunday, has been having quite a
trip in the South. On the face of it, their tour
schedule does not seem out of the ordinary; it has
ranged from amusement parks to cookie factories, from
high-tech industrial complexes to conventional
marketplaces, from research institutions to bullet
trains. All these activities may not seem a cause for
concern, unless we look at the timing of the visit and
the members of the delegation.
The tour was
scheduled with prior knowledge of the absence of Kim
Dae-jung. The president's participation in the APEC
forum was confirmed long before. Despite his absence,
the delegation includes key official members. On the
surface, at least, the delegation is headed by Pak
Nam-ki, chairman of the North's State Planning
Commission. He was the man behind the so-called July
Reform, an attempt to move wages and prices from a
workers'-paradise near-zero level to something more
closely aligned with market levels.
What we
are missing in
this economic delegation picture is some explanation
for why and how some high-ranking officials were included.
Among the notables are Jang Song-taek, the first
deputy chief of organization leadership and the Worker's
Party Central Committee, and Kim Hi-taek, the first
deputy chief of the Workers' Party Central Committee.
Since then prime minister Yon Hyung-mok's visit
in 1992, they are regarded as the highest-ranking
party officials to visit South Korea. Not merely for his
brother-in-law relationship with Kim Jong-il, Jang is an
influential figure in the North's political hierarchy.
So is Kim Hi-taek, in terms of control over the party's
organization and apparatus.
Nevertheless, Jang and Kim have kept very low profiles. While doing so
they have thoroughly examined the economic capacity of
South Korea from manufacturing to high-tech industries
as well as the social and living conditions of
the South Koreans.
Their activities have many
political implications. They could not possibly have been in a better
place than in South Korea's own court to
survey the upcoming presidential election and other related issues.
When they return to their homeland, they will be ready to
deal with the South, as well as with concerned foreign
states, and possibly with the next president on such issues
as the development of Kaesong, Shinuiju, Mount
Geumgang, roads and railways. What the delegation takes back home will
be revealed in the next round of its talks with the
United States, South Korea and Japan.
Jaewoo Choo, PhD, is a research fellow
with the Trade Research Institute, Seoul. The opinions
expressed in this article are his own.
(©2002 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights
reserved. Please contact content@atimes.com for
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