Inter-Korean talks broke down in acrimony late yesterday afternoon, with South Korea responding to North Korean threats with some threats of its own.
During the working-level talks, the sixth such round of dialogue on the future of the Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), the two sides discussed the most serious issue hindering progress: ensuring there is never a repeat of the current KIC shutdown. However, they ultimately failed to adopt an agreement, and the talks ended at 5:20PM.
Thereafter, the North Korean delegation unexpectedly descended from the 13th floor meeting room to enter the South Korean reporters’ room. There, they distributed pre-prepared copies of draft and amended agreements that had been proposed during the talks. South Korean officials attempted to stop the action, and the two sides fleetingly clashed.
Commenting on the talks, North Korean chief delegate Park Cheol Soo told the assembled reporters, “In the talks the South side just kept clinging to its own unilateral position, constructing a man-made impasse,” before warning, “We can operate the Kaesong Industrial Complex as much as we want without the South side.”
Accusing South Korea of an “intentional, premeditated plot” to destroy the inter-Korean manufacturing zone, Park went on to declare, “If the Kaesong light manufacturing zone cooperative project breaks down, then our military will redeploy to the industrial zone area of the Military Demarcation Zone.”
Thereafter, the South Korean Ministry of Unification released a statement on the breakdown of the talks, calling both the ruptured talks and the subsequent actions of the North Korean delegation “extremely disappointing.”
As a result of the failure of the talks, the South Korean statement noted that the KIC stands at a crossroads between revival and irreversible shutdown. The South also issued a warning of its own, saying, “If North Korea does not show a sincere attitude to the issue of recurrence prevention policy, the government will have no choice but to take a major decision.”
Expert analysis of yesterday’s events has focused on the fact that the North Korean delegation pre-prepared the document that it distributed to reporters. This appears to cast doubt upon whether North Korea approached the talks with any intention of allowing an agreement to be reached.
Park Young Ho, a senior researcher with the state-run Korea Institute for National Unification, pointed out, “It was the North side wanting to show that it alone is trying hard.”
Other key factors in the North Korean actions focus on domestic concerns. First, North Korea is setting itself for July 27th, when the country will celebrate “victory” in the Korean War. Agreement with South Korea could undermine the atmosphere of victory. Secondly, the U.S.-South Korea joint military exercise “Ulchi Freedom Guardian” is impending in the next month, meaning that North Korea may have decided that it can benefit from a mid-term tension-raising strategy.
