The National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee conducted a review of the Moon administration’s North Korea policy on October 13. Assembly members from the majority Minjoo Party supported the resumption of humanitarian aid, dialogue, and exchange with the North, while the opposition advocated for continuing sanctions and pressure, stoking a heated debate.
Liberty Korea Party (the conservative opposition) Assemblyman Choi Kyung Hwan said, “Because of the North’s nuclear and missile provocations, North-South relations are at a critical stage. During a time when the international community is supporting sanctions and pressure, the idea of suddenly sending $8 million in humanitarian aid, which won’t make much of a difference now anyway, is illogical and I don’t understand the decision.”
Unification Minister Cho responded, “The government [Moon’s administration] takes the view that the humanitarian situation is completely separate from the political situation,” to which Assemblyman Choi then said, “I understand the principle. But isn’t it strange to decide now to send the money at a later time? I understand that it will be frustrating for the Unification Ministry, but right now the right thing to do is to join in the sanctions and pressure campaign. We need to build a basis for unification and the protection of defectors on a domestic level at this time.”
Liberty Korea Party Assembly Member Lee Ju Young added, “There is an argument to be made that now is not the proper time for sending humanitarian aid to the North. Just three days after the UN Security Council adopted a new resolution against the North, on September 14, the government announced it was deliberating aid, and then a week later, on September 21, the government said it might send $8 million in aid. That was a very odd decision.”
Responding to this remark, Unification Minister Cho said, “We received requests to give provisions to international organizations in May and July.” Lee then replied that, “International organizations make these requests for aid every year, but right now, the timing is not right. In your original briefing, there was a comment that the North’s economy would worsen due to the UN sanctions, but this was removed from the Unification Ministry’s presentation materials on September 18. You should consider this.”
Representing the majority party, Minjoo Party Assembly Member Lee Seok Hyun said, “Canada, America, and Switzerland have all been on difficult terms with the North since at least 2015, but have nonetheless given aid to the North. The US is giving $1 million through the UN this year. This supports the notion that aid combined with pressure is distinct from humanitarian aid.”
Minjoo lawmaker Lee In Young added, “It is justifiable to provide aid to the North regardless of changing conditions or governments. Tensions over nuclear and missile development have reached new heights, but it is important for us to maintain the moral high ground. The Park Geun Hye government provided limited aid including TB medical products. We need to engage in that kind of healthcare assistance as soon as possible.”
The parties also clashed when discussing how to best achieve the denuclearization of North Korea. Minjoo lawmaker Lee In Young said, “Although US-North Korea relations are frosty, they are still maintaining contact through unofficial channels. South Korea doesn’t have this and that’s a shame. America is considering an envoy to North Korea, it seems. We should also try to make informal contact and consider making a North Korean envoy post.”
Hearing this suggestion, Unification Minister Cho said, “If our government needs it, then we should dispatch an envoy.”
Minjoo Lawmaker Won Hye Young emphasized the need for a peaceful resolution, adding, “It’s important to turn the [upcoming winter 2018] Pyeongchang Olympics into a ‘Peace Olympics.’ Let’s use this opportunity to achieve change and development. This could be a game changer.”
On the other hand, [Center-right] Bareun Party Assemblyman Kim Moo Sung said, “The Moon Jae In government’s diplomatic and security policies are erratic, and this has hurt our country’s value as a partner. There are worries that calls for peace and dialogue cause damage to the international sanctions that are blocking North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. I am concerned that we are taking an emotional approach to facing Kim Jong Un, who has taken charge.”
Liberty Korea Party’s Yun Young suk said, “Kim Jong Un’s strategy is to achieve an armed and forceful unification. He aims to use nuclear and missile development to get a peace agreement securing the evacuation of American forces from the peninsula. Our government needs to consider that Kim Jong Un’s purpose for these weapons is not survival of the regime. We should consider drafting plans to counter this.”
Controversy over reopening of the Kaesong Industrial Complex
There was also an active debate over the fate of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, a zone packed with jointly operated North-South business ventures that was closed last year after the North’s continual nuclear and missile provocations. Some members of the Assembly criticized the Unification Ministry’s handling of the situation.
Minister Cho was asked when the government discovered that the North had secretly restarted operation in the zone. “We knew in March/April of this year that there were vehicles and other movement detected at the facilities, so we continued to monitor in order to determine whether or not operations had been restarted, but grounds for making that assessment were limited,” he replied.
Liberty Korea Party’s Choi Kyung Hwan also chimed in, saying, “There were broadcasts in August that confirmed the movement of buses provided by South Korea in the Kaesong Complex. However, up until October 3rd, there were no measures being taken at all.” To this, Minister Jo said, “If we detected that the factories has been restarted, we would have implemented those measures.”
Asked about the power supply inside the Kaesong Complex, Minister Cho explained, “We can’t enter the complex, so we can only make an estimate, but it seems that the North is operating a small hydroelectric plant in the vicinity of the complex.
When asked if the North could be using the complex to produce textiles potentially for export (which would violate the terms of UN Security Council Resolution 2375), Minister Cho said, “We are identifying routes that the North might be using to export textiles produced at Kaesong businesses through China and then to other destinations.”
