•  HOME 
•  ARCHIVES 
•  BOOKS 
•  PDF ARCHIVE 
•  WWP 
•  SUBSCRIBE 
•  DONATE 
•  MUNDOOBRERO.ORG      

Koreans agree on peaceful economic cooperation

By Deirdre Griswold

The steadfastness of the leaders and people of north Korea, combined with the message sent to their politicians by the masses in south Korea—through countless demonstrations, meetings, confrontations and through the polls—that they fervently want reunification and peaceful collaboration with their sisters and brothers in the north, were the necessary conditions underlying a recent breakthrough in relations on the Korean peninsula.

On Oct. 4, Kim Jong Il, representing the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in the north, and Roh Moo Hyun, representing the Republic of Korea in the south, met in Pyongyang, the capital of the DPRK. They signed a broad agreement to strengthen economic collaboration between the two parties and take concrete steps to ease the tensions that have existed ever since the U.S. massed troops in southern Korea at the end of World War II. Desperately trying to turn back the socialist revolution, led by Kim Il Sung, that was liberating the north, the U.S. set up a puppet government in the south and eventually waged a war against the north that was responsible for 4 million deaths.

For nearly half a century, no one and no goods were allowed to move across the Demilitarized Zone that cut the country in half. During most of that time, repressive military dictators chosen by Washington ruled the south and, although the war against the north ended in a cease-fire, a state of war has been in place ever since.

There was a brief thaw in the 1990s, and on June 15, 2000, the leaders of both halves of Korea met and signed a historic document moving toward peaceful cooperation. But that was followed by a hardening of the U.S. position. In his State of the Union address in January 2002, President George W. Bush labeled the DPRK part of his imagined “axis of evil.”

At that time, the Pentagon seemed poised to win a quick victory in Iraq and Afghanistan and could then turn its attentions further east. Bush’s rhetoric appeared to be the prelude to stepping up its aggression against the DPRK, which was struggling to build back its economy after many setbacks.

Today, the Pentagon doesn’t know where it will get the troops to continue its occupations in the Middle East, let alone commit more to the nearly 30,000 soldiers it stations in south Korea.

Bush’s policies are discredited around the world, and U.S. military threats, while taken seriously, don’t produce the political results they once did.

The DPRK had responded to Bush’s threats by concentrating on building up its defenses. Its “army first” policy meant sacrifices by the people, but its clear determination and proven ability to develop all means of defending itself from attack—including an advanced missile system and a small stockpile of nuclear weapons—deterred the White House from going further with its bellicose campaign.

Meanwhile, the indignation of the masses in the south against the Bush regime grew by leaps and bounds. Polls showed the majority of people were for getting the U.S. troops out of their country and did not fear the north’s weapons.

This February, at six-party talks held in China, the north agreed to dismantle its nuclear program, which was for both military use and to generate power, in exchange for guarantees on obtaining a different type of nuclear reactor for power generation and fuel deliveries to meet the country’s power needs until the reactors went online.

The recent agreement between north and south reaffirmed the February nuclear plan.

The agreement signed on Oct. 4 is but a step on the long road toward reunifying the Korean people and ending the U.S. military occupation of the south. But it is a significant one.

In addition to reaffirming the goals of reunification and independence set out in the June 15, 2000, joint declaration, the recent summit spelled out measures of economic cooperation that will strengthen the two halves of Korea.

They include:

• Work on opening railway freight traffic between Munsan and Pongdong and rebuilding and repairing the rail lines between Kaesong and Sinuiju, as well as the highway between Kaesong and Pyongyang, for joint use. The south is helping build the Kaesong Industrial Project in the north.

• Build zones for cooperation in shipbuilding in Anbyon and Nampho and work together in agriculture, health care and environmental protection.

• Develop exchange and cooperation in social and cultural fields such as history, language, education, science and technology, culture, arts and sports.

The White House has yet to release a statement giving its reaction to this development. A month earlier, however, Bush and Roh were visibly at odds when, in a media conference, Roh questioned the U.S. president on whether Washington would now work toward a peace treaty officially ending the 1950-1953 Korean War.

---