NEW ZEALAND AND THE TWO KOREAS.

• Author: Harland, Bryce
• Position: Analysis of relations - Brief Article

Bryce Harland discusses the implications of the recent summit meeting in Pyongyang.

The unprecedented meeting between the leaders of North and South Korea on 13 June was of great importance for Korea and for the rest of the Asia-Pacific region. The Korean peninsula has long been one of the two main flash points of Asia, the other being the Taiwan Strait. Large and heavily armed forces are deployed on both sides of the Demilitarised Zone. North Korea's testing of long-range missiles has aroused fears in Japan as well as South Korea, and accelerated the development by the United States of a theatre missile defence system. This in its turn has aroused concern in China.

Under President Clinton, the United States has been working to ease tension in the peninsula and has offered to establish relations with North Korea if the latter stops its missile development. The South's President Kim Dae Jung has persisted with his `Sunshine Policy' towards North Korea, despite criticism from many quarters. The announcement that the two leaders had agreed to meet came as a surprise, at least in the South, and was greeted cautiously. Several earlier attempts at direct negotiation had failed, and both sides are suspicious. There were fears that the meeting could prove to be merely a tactical manoeuvre, possibly designed to provide a pretext for military action.

The meeting itself, and its outcome, cast doubt on this view. Kim Jong Il gave Kim Dae Jung a warmer welcome than was expected. They agreed, in a Joint Declaration, to work for reunification in the future, and to promote economic co-operation by exchanges in all fields. Kim Jong Il agreed to visit Seoul at an appropriate time in the future.

Kim Dae Jung is serious in his desire to reduce tension. He is not looking for a way to achieve reunification in the short term, because it would cost too much. Kim Jong Il is evidently confident enough of his position to risk exploring possibilities, presumably because he realises that North Korea needs better access to Western technology and capital. Business in the South seeks access to the large pool of cheap and relatively well educated labour in the North, without paying the price for reunification. Perhaps for this reason, the leading opposition party in the South, which defeated the government in the recent election, agreed to support Kim Dae Jung on the summit though it criticised the outcome. The meeting of the two leaders was warmly welcomed by people in...