Many North Korean experts possess a misguided belief regarding the fundamental cause of inter-Korean hostility, and therefore propose flawed solutions. The commonplace but incorrect viewpoint is that North Korea’s nuclear weapons are the cause of hostility between the two Koreas. In fact, the hostility is the cause of the DPRK’s development of nuclear weapons, rather than vice versa. Consider for example North Korea’s provocations predating its development of nuclear weapons, such as the January 21 attack on the Blue House in 1968, the bombing of a KAL plane in 1987, or the 1983 assassination attempt on President Chun Doo-hwan in Myanmar.
In order to reduce inter-Korean confrontation, the cause of the conflict should be clearly identified. The fundamental reason for the inter-Korean conflict is the DPRK’s construction of a proletarian dictatorship based upon the ideology of class-struggle, in accordance with the socialist ideals of Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx.
Why is the DPRK’s class-struggle ideology the fundamental cause of conflict between the two Koreas? As former Soviet President Gorbachev expressed, foreign policy is a continuation of domestic policy, and domestic policy is the embodiment of ideology. North Korea’s foreign policy, with its essential ideology of class-struggle, is bound to be hostile to countries with different systems of governance, thus preventing reciprocal cooperation and peaceful coexistence between the two Koreas.
As former Soviet Foreign Minister Edward Shevardnadze pointed out, “coexistence based on such premises as nonaggression, respect of sovereignty, noninterference in internal affairs, and so on is incompatible with class-struggle”. A socialist country with a political system based upon class-struggle constantly interferes with the internal affairs of other countries and denies them sovereignty. North Korea requires an enemy against which to struggle, and therefore constantly slanders South Korea. Consequently, relations between the two Koreas cannot be improved, no matter how much financial support is provided to the DPRK. It should be noted that North Korea’s denuclearization is a necessary condition for peaceful coexistence between the two Koreas, but not enough on its own. In order for the countries to achieve peaceful coexistence, North Korea’s hostile ideology must be changed.
What specific solutions are required to overcome the current structure of conflict and bring about mutually beneficial inter-Korean relations? As North Korea’s nuclear weapons are aimed not only at South Korea but also at the U.S. and China, the DPRK nuclear issue is international. This means that if North Korea seeks to survive while retaining its nuclear weapons, then United Nations Security Council sanctions will continue, making it impossible to establish peace and stability on the Peninsula or mutually beneficial cooperation between the two Koreas. Friendly relations between the two cannot be developed without North Korea’s denuclearization.
However, as previously stated, denuclearization alone will not lead to a friendly inter-Korean relationship. To enable the possibility of a friendly relationship, North Korea’s denuclearization must lead to economic development, through market-oriented reform and opening, which requires an ideological change away from socialism.
Overcoming the hostile Korean relationship to establish friendly relations requires two conditions to be met. First, the DPRK must switch to a market socialist system by rescinding its socialist ideology. Without such a change, the privatization of production, which is the core of market-oriented system reform, cannot take place. In addition, North Korea must secure sufficient development funds, necessary for economic modernization. Second, for the two Koreas to establish friendly relations, the income gap between them must be reduced. Reconciliation and cooperation cannot be accomplished while residents of the South earn around 30 times the annual income of those in the North.
North Korea must accept denuclearization and carry out reform if the two countries are to achieve mutual trust and reconciliation. For this to happen, President Yoon Suk Yeol should work with stakeholder states including the United States, China, Japan, and Russia, to present a credible package of solutions to North Korea’s issues, including the withdrawal of sanctions, security guarantees, and economic development funds.
Views expressed in this guest column do not necessarily reflect those of Daily NK.
