[imText1]How do experts perceive the “Sunshine Policy” that has attempted to achieve reform and development in North Korea for the past 9 years?
While President Roh Moo Hyun enters his final 6 months in office, the Network for North Korean Democracy and Human Rights gathered on the 4th to analyze the government’s North Korea policy and discuss proposals for a new policy on North Korea.
Briefing on the topic, “Has the South Korean government’s policy on supporting North Korea achieved reform and development in North Korea?” most of the experts seem to agree that the Sunshine Policy that had been implemented for the past 9 years had more or else failed. Rather, experts agreed that nuclear experiments had been launched during this period and that North Korea’s military first politics had been strengthened.
Professor Yoo Ho Yul of Korea University said, “The government’s extreme pessimism has created an environment where North Korea’s ill attitudes cannot be changed” and asserted, “The North Korean regime has been strengthened and the choice for reform and development delayed.”
Professor Yoo added, “Rather than teaching them how to catch fish, the fish is merely being served. The government has indicated a wrong sign which states that fundamental effort is unnecessary to incite reform and development to North Korea’s elite officials, system or the common person.”
He criticized, “The South Korean government’s North Korea policy provided the reserves for resources and energy restricted by North Korean authorities to develop missiles and nuclear armaments” and explained, “Leading elites were not formed as military forces were strengthened.”
In regards to an appropriate North Korea policy, Professor Yoo asserted that ▲ aid towards North Korea needed to be transparent and from a reciprocal position, ▲ a two-track strategy is needed where military first politics is weakened and talks with the North strengthened and ▲ North Korea needs to experience change not through South Korean internal politics but other policies such as the North Korea policy.
Contrastingly, Professor Ko Yoo Hwan of Dongguk University said, “The South-North reconciliatory cooperative policy is a trend and is a proposal which stands above the benefits of the political parties” and asserted, “Expanding the South-North Economic Agreement will permit North Korea to enter the capitalist international economy with stability.”
Further, Professor Ko said, “it is hard to express numerically or statistically as to how much the government’s North Korea policy will influence change in North Korea” and added, “We can see that significant change has occurred in North Korea considering the increase in markets and through Kaesong Industrial Complex and Mt. Geumgang.”
Chief Editor of the DailyNK Sohn Kwang Joo said, “The fundamental reason the Sunshine policy failed was from the misunderstanding that we could achieve reform and development in North Korea through assistance.”
He said, “The Kim Dae Jung-Roh Moo Hyun governments do not have a full understanding of the Kim Jong Il regime’s strategic dependence on Military First Politics” and said “It was an illusion to think that ‘mutual cooperation’ could be achieved and that South Korea could incite reform and development on the Kim Jong Il regime even when China could not do this.”
The result, the policy towards North Korea did not weaken North Korea’s powerful military forces through South Korea’s strong economic forces but rather strengthened the notion of North Korea’s military first politics.
Mr. Sohn said, “The North Korea policy states that talks and negotiations between the South and North ‘track A’ is simultaneously necessary with ‘track B’ which would be to weaken the Kim Jong Il regime. However, after the Sunshine policy, track B deteriorated whereas track A also self-imposingly degeneration” and asserted, “Track A and B are not conflicting concepts but rather supplement one another. As a result, the North Korea policy must push towards normalization afterwards.”
Researcher Yang Woon Chol of Sejong Institute said, “The government’s aid to North Korea is the most effective political measure it can take to influence North Korea” and suggested, “The South Korean government must be able to request for decisive political measures in return for helping issues such as North Korea’s human rights, defectors and shortages of food.”
Professor Lee Shin Hwa from Korea University said, “The Sunshine policy merely became an extreme policy” and criticized, “The moment the policy of North Korea became a ‘indulging approach,’ North Korea became to show an attitude raising its voice while still receiving assistance. Furthermore, South Korean politicians created a false appearance that politics was going well through reconciliatory gestures with North Korea (e.g. visits to North Korea, activities with elites).”
Member Song Young Sun of the Grand National Party said, “For the past 10 years, the Sunshine policy provided the resources for the North Korean government to develop nuclear weapons and missiles” and claimed, “The Sunshine policy was a complete failure. We did not prudently lead the relationship with North Korea.’ North Korea was approached with national political motives and rather than ‘reciprocal mutual existence’ the relationship was singly directed.”
The Network for North Korean Democracy and Human Rights will continue to meet every two months for the remainder of the year to discuss issues of North Korea’s reform and development and support for North Korea, South-North economic peace, a new North Korea policy and improving North Korean human rights.
