Lee Myung Bak became the 17th President of the Republic of Korea on February 25.
The new administration’s motto is “pragmatism.” With pragmatism comes a focus on essence while rejecting vanity. The Lee Myung Bak administration is likely to apply this pragmatic approach to inter-Korean relations and foreign affairs.
Last Saturday, Newsweek reported, “the president-elect said ‘it is necessary to hold another summit with Pyongyang but there will be none for the sake of domestic politics.’” This assurance is pragmatic.
When meeting with former Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, Lee also said, “North Korea has no reason to get nervous over the new administration’s inauguration. Our position on peaceful and cooperative relations with the North is consistent with the previous administration.” He even asked Prime Minister Goh to “visit Seoul before or after sending high-ranking officials to Pyongyang to help us with implementing ‘Vision 3000.’” This is also a pragmatic approach.
Singapore signed a Visa Wavier Program with North Korea. If the city-state can invest in North Korea, then Hong Kong and Japan may follow. If so, the Kaesong Industrial Complex will turn into a multi-national complex. This will help North Korea adapt to global standards. Kaesong’s probability of success and security will subsequently increase.
Nevertheless, pragmatism cannot be an objective by itself. It is a means to an end. Thus, Lee’s North Korea policy’s final objective is “No-Nuke Open Door 3000 (South Korea will provide investment to help NK achieve $3000 per capita GDP if the North gives up nuclear weapons and opens its society and markets).” Not involving inter-Korean affairs in domestic politics and asking Singapore to participate in the Kaesong project are the means.
NNOD 3000 is a slogan that can be easily understood by the public. “No Nuke” means disarmament and a peace process on the Korean Peninsula, while “Open Door” refers to North Korea’s economic reform. The significance of “3000 USD per capita GDP” is to prepare for reunification through rebuilding the ruined North Korean economy.
Although human rights are not included in the slogan, Lee has repeatedly emphasized that North Korean human rights issues must be approached with a universal understanding of human rights.
In a joint-interview with Donga Ilbo, Asahi Shimbun, and the Wall Street Journal on February 2, Lee stressed: “North Korea’s economy is having hard times and cannot satisfy the most basic needs of its people. Giving economic aid to North Korea is unavoidable. The most ideal situation is to help North Korean residents directly, rather than passing goods through North Korean authorities. However, realistically speaking, it is impossible to separate the people from the government. My administration will approach the situation using the universal concept of human rights, not with a tactical one. We will tell the North Koreans that it is not merely our tactic to mention human rights. North Korean residents need food. But human rights cannot be neglected while at the same time we are giving food.”
Universal human rights are not a pragmatic idea. Lee revealed his own philosophy on NK human rights issues: Human rights are an objective by themselves. So we must take a direct, sincere and consistent approach to achieve these, as West Germany did with East Germany’s human rights violations.
Kim Dae Jung and Roh Moo Hyun did not approach human rights with sincerity and consistency. Regarding the UN’s North Korea Human Rights Resolution, first the formed administrations abstained from voting, next they did not participate, then they voted in favor, and finally they abstained again last year. Without philosophy and principle, these two administrations approached North Korean human rights issues by using trickery. After all, the Sunshine Policy was a trick; a trick to lead Kim Jong Il to open North Korea’s doors. However, Kim Jong Il himself is a master of such tricks. How can we expect him to be deceived by a trick?
In contrast, the Lee Myung Bak administration must have philosophy and principle. Pragmatism without principle can fall into an expediency-only approach. President Lee should stick to principled pragmatism while applying strategic leniency since his partner is Kim Jong Il.
No Need to Hurry the Talks
North Korean issued can be roughly divided into four; denuclearization (including disarmament and the peace process), economic reform, human rights and reunification. Among them, human rights need principles the most. This is universal and surpasses race, religion, nationality, sex and ideology. There can be no such thing as ‘too early to talk about human rights’, or ‘nationalism first, human rights second.’
In that sense, making proper North Korea policy is not an easy task. North Korean human rights violations have their roots in Kim Jong Il’s regime. So it is obvious that Kim Jong Il will not accept guilt or responsibility for human rights problems. Therefore, we need a strategy (while human rights should be separated from politics). Cooperation with the UN or other international human rights organizations is critical. So is cooperation with NGOs.
The other crucial factor is not to hurry. For the last decade, North Korea held the initiative in inter-Korean relations. The North ridiculed the South even though the South was helping the North. Kim Jong Il knew that Seoul asked them first although he needed not to fulfill any promise. This happened because the South Korean government mixed inter-Korean relations with domestic politics. Lee Myung Bak should keep his promise to assure not to involve politics in inter-Korean affairs and vice versa. It is Kim Jong Il that needs help from the others side. South Korea must obtain the initiative. For example, Seoul has provided rice and fertilizer every spring. From now on, this aid must be given only after the North seeks dialogue.
The ROK-US alliance is important and so is cooperation with Japan and China.
The new administration needs to be like a good farmer does and wait and prepare. It is the proper first step.
