UCLA Center for East Asian Studies
Korean Reunification Policies
October 18, 1999
Asahi News Service || News File Index || Reunification Index
RAYS OF HOPE SHOW NORTH KOREA BEGINNING TO CHANGE
YOICHI FUNABASHI
The Kim Dae Jung administration of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) is known for its ''sunshine policy'' toward the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). Although I had heard that this term was becoming obsolete, all key people in the ruling parties that I met on a recent trip to Seoul were using it.
Since North Korea promised to refrain from test-firing missiles while negotiations to normalize relations with the United States are in progress, it seems that the sun has begun to shine on it again. However, it doesn't mean that it will immediately lead to improved relations between South and North Korea. The North is likely to maintain its stance of facing only the United States while deliberately ignoring the South for some time.
The Kim Dae Jung administration is prepared to take either hard-line or moderate policies in dealing with the North but its basic stance is moderate.
Lee Jong Chan, vice president of the ruling National Congress for New Politics, said: ''We sunk a North Korean submarine that unlawfully entered our waters but we sent fertilizer to the North on the next day. The North reacted positively to it.''
He also said decision-makers within the North Korean leadership were shifting from military personnel to technocrats and called the trend a good sign.
Some observers are wary of the change in North Korea's attitude, saying it is devising a stratagem aimed at ''liaising with the United States, cooperating with Japan and containing South Korea (Republic of Korea).''
However, Lee appears undaunted and said he wants to see both the Stars and Stripes and Hinomaru flutter in Pyongyang at diplomatic missions because he hopes it will bring about a change in North Korea.
Another leading politician also said he expected Japan to play a positive role.
''Even if they (North Koreans) try to provoke us, we should put up with them and aim at peaceful coexistence. I want Japan to also deal with North Korea with such an attitude. I want Japan to get together with South Korea so we can combine our knowledge,'' he said.
I heard politicians from both ruling and opposition parties say they wanted Japan to normalize its relations with the North following U.S.-North Korea normalization talks.
However, if North Korea insists on compensation for Japan's prewar colonial rule, it could hamper normalization talks. There is no guarantee that the money would not be used for a military buildup.
According to Lee, a change in North Korea is a precondition for extending financial aid. Without it, it would be like pouring water into a glass with a hole at the bottom, he said.
What do South Koreans mean when they say ''change?'' Is it a change in the North Korean economic system or a change in Kim Jong Il's administration? Or do they expect the entire political system to change?
Here, the argument turns somewhat vague. Rather, they seem to want to keep it vague because, it appears, they want to maintain the current system that makes peaceful coexistence possible for a long time.
Meanwhile, North Korea does not hide its wariness that the South is using its sunshine policy in an attempt at overthrowing its order.
The sun is not always welcomed by everyone with a smile.
I remember an Indian folk tale that I once read: A mother divided walnuts among her three children. ''I gave you all the walnuts I had so that I don't have any left for myself. Can you give your mother one?'' she asked them.
The first child threw her a rotten walnut. The second child gave her the smallest one. The third child handed her a big, beautiful one.
The mother said to the first child: ''You are bad. You will be hated by everybody.'' To the second child, she said: ''You are a wretched child. You will keep bawling endlessly.'' To the third one, she said: ''You will be loved by everybody.''
The third child became the moon. The second child became the wind. And the first one became the sun.
In India, the sun has been regarded as an object of hatred that causes unbearable heat, famine and destruction.
Putting North Korea under such an intense international spotlight can be likened to the sun glaring with such intensity that it destroys the world we live in. On the other hand, only a handful of people in the North Korean leadership would thrive if the sun's rays are too weak. Finding the right adjustment is the key.
Close attention also should be paid to make sure that Japan, the United States and South Korea stay in step with each other.
''Although the Kim Dae Jung administration says it wants Japan to advance its relations with North Korea without regard for South Korea, when that really happens, I think Japan-South Korea relations will become strained,'' a veteran South Korean diplomat said, offering Japan a word of warning.
There are many difficult problems to overcome. But the most important thing for Japan is not to act without consulting other nations. It must always stay in contact with and act in concert with the United States, South Korea and China so that they all understand each other.
The sunshine policy offers us a new dawn, one that could light up all the people in North Korea. If the rays of hope emanating from Japan, the United States and South Korea converge, the combined effect should eventually be strong enough to bring about change.
Editor's note: The author is an Asahi Shimbun senior staff writer and foreign affairs columnist.
