Japan Brief/FPCJ, No. 0773
October 9, 2007

Inter-Korean Summit Issues Joint Declaration

The first summit between the leaders of North and South Korea in seven years was held in Pyongyang from October 2 to 4. On the last occasion, in June 2000, then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung visited Pyongyang. This time, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun made the trip for the second summit. During his three-day stay, President Roh met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il four times for a total of about six hours. In the afternoon of October 4 they signed an eight-point joint declaration entitled “The Development of Relations between the South and the North and Peaceful Prosperity.”

On the issue that has been in the limelight, the nuclear question, the joint declaration only states that both sides will make efforts towards the steady fulfillment of agreements reached in the six-party talks. On economic cooperation, however, it becomes more detailed, specifying large-scale assistance. In addition, the joint declaration mentions cooperation towards holding of summit meeting of three or four related countries with the aim of ending the current armistice and building a permanent peace, as well as the establishment of a “special area for peace and cooperation” straddling the de-facto border in the Yellow Sea (West Sea) and the holding of talks between both defense ministers in November in order to ease military tensions. Especially striking in the joint declaration were specifics concerning economic cooperation, including preferential treatment to encourage investment, railway cargo transportation, highway repair, and the construction of joint shipbuilding complexes. The declaration also includes the announcement that the South-North Committee for the Promotion of Economic Cooperation would be upgraded to the deputy prime minister level and that the North and South Korean prime ministers would meet in November to follow up on the declaration. The joint declaration did not mention the problem of the abduction of Japanese citizens. In the afternoon of October 4, after his return to Seoul, Prime Minister Roh said that although he had brought up the problem of North Korea’s abduction of South Korean citizens in the summit talks, the two sides remained far apart on that issue and no agreement had been reached.

Newspaper Editorials: Denuclearization Is Prerequisite
Japan’s media showed great interest in the inter-Korean summit. Three of the main newspapers carried editorials on the meeting before the talks, and most of them reported the joint declaration immediately after its announcement, on the front pages of their October 4 evening and October 5 morning editions. The five main national newspapers also all ran editorials on the summit in their October 5 editions.

Under the headline, “No Korean peace without denuclearization,” the Yomiuri Shimbun editorial raised the question of “To what extent was South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun able to press North Korean leader Kim Jong-il over an early realization of the abandonment of North Korea’s nuclear programs?” It pointed out, “In their two rounds of talks, the two leaders reportedly discussed issues geared toward achieving peace on the Korean Peninsula, prosperity for all Koreans, and reunification. But peace and reunification cannot come about unless North Korea abandons its nuclear programs, since neighboring countries, including Japan, will not tolerate a nuclear-armed North Korea.” The Yomiuri commented that while the two sides have issued a joint declaration on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula that prohibits the development, testing, and possession of nuclear weapons as well as the possession of nuclear reprocessing and uranium enrichment facilities, “rather than comply with the declaration, North Korea has repeatedly violated it, going so far as to hold a nuclear test. An agreement or declaration alone is not sufficient to realize detente.” It also remarked that “if South Korea carries out massive economic assistance to North Korea outside the framework of the six-party talks, that would, if anything, delay solutions to the North Korean nuclear problem. This is a serious point that the next South Korean administration [after President Roh steps down] must keep firmly in mind.”

The Asahi Shimbun editorial, headlined “Summit in North Korea: The stage is set for the two sides to start afresh,” commented, “As the title ‘the Development of Relations Between the South and the North and Peaceful Prosperity’ indicates, so many ideas and hopes are incorporated in the document, to the extent that makes us concerned about how they will be achieved.” It noted, “At the summit meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, the center of attention was on how North Korea’s nuclear development programs would be addressed. The declaration says that the South and North will make joint efforts for the smooth implementation of the joint statement and agreement in the six-nation talks. We are disappointed that no other mention was made of this issue. . . . The understanding and cooperation of neighboring countries are essential to peace on the Korean Peninsula. Even if it seems to be a roundabout approach to reconciliation, the two Koreas must focus their energies on settling the issue of nuclear programs.” The Asahi also commented, however, that compared to the last joint declaration seven years ago, which was short and abstract, “the statement this time around was more specific. That can be regarded as a fruitful result. They also touched on the importance of building trust in military matters for the first time. Moving beyond the shallow excitement of the first meeting, this summit meeting was more pragmatic.”

The Mainichi Shimbun editorial, titled “Utilize the declaration for the North’s denuclearization,” noted that “The highlight of the declaration probably is the holding of a meeting of related countries to declare the end of the Korean War,” but questioned, “Can this declaration [concerning the end of the war] really be called a big step forward?” Furthermore, pointing to the influence of President Roh, who will be stepping down soon, and noting that the problem of the abduction of South Korean citizens by the North remains unresolved since the first summit, although there have been visits by separated families, the Mainichi requested, “If President Roh says that he is going to make efforts toward declaring the end of the Korean War in the brief time remaining in his term, he should urge North Korea to implement the disablement of its nuclear facilities and complete declaration of all its nuclear programs as decided upon in the recent joint document produced by the six-party talks.”

Under the headline “Unless the military dictatorship changes,” the Sankei Shimbun editorial commented, “Some positive results are included in the declaration. There aren’t any real surprises, but we will keep a close watch on the situation.” Noting that the contents of the declaration “are centered on economic cooperation, about which it is relatively easy for the South and the North to agree,” the Sankei stressed, “Unless there is a change in the North Korean regime, which is a military dictatorship engaged in the development and possession of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles at the expense of the economy, it [building peace on the Korean Peninsula] is just pie in the sky.” Noting that the international community will be watching the post-declaration situation closely, it added, “The ‘military trust’ that the declaration speaks of will be created precisely by North Korea’s shifting to concrete policies of reconciliation with others and opening to the rest of the world, including its denuclearization, suspension of missile development, disclosure of military information, and so on. This summit does not, however, give us a sense of any change in North Korea’s level of opacity.”

The Nikkei editorial, headlined “Denuclearization is prerequisite for North-South ‘peace and prosperity,’” remarked, “It must not be forgotten that the prerequisite for building peace on the Korean Peninsula is North Korea’s complete denuclearization.” It went on, “On October 3, while the summit was taking place, the six-party talks announced a joint document centering on North Korea’s disablement of its nuclear facilities and declaration of all its nuclear programs by the end of the year. If, for this reason, President Roh did not press Kim strongly on the nuclear problem, then the only conclusion can be that North Korea controlled the pace of the summit.” Regarding the detailed statement on economic cooperation, The Nikkei commented, “Unfortunately South Korea’s conciliatory stance was striking in this declaration, too.” It went on, “If a four-party meeting, with the addition of the United States and China, is held on the problem of ending the Korean War, those parties must not be allowed to rush toward a conclusion and forget about the complete denuclearization of North Korea and resolving the abduction problem in the process. We are also concerned that if the emphasis shifts to four-party talks, the six-party talks will become a dead letter. Japan must press the United States and China so that they don’t become ‘four-party talks without denuclearization.’ In particular, Japan should caution the United States not to remove North Korea’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism until headway is made on the abduction problem, and Japan should continue to address Pyongyang with ‘dialogue and pressure.’”

(Copyright 2007 Foreign Press Center / Japan)