Luncheon Remarks

Recent Situation on the Korean Peninsula and
Trustpolitik for Peaceful Unification

By Mr. Cho Taeyong
First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs

World Journalists Conference
Seoul, June 16th, 2014

(Introduction)

Mr. Park Chong-ryul, President of the Journalists Association of Korea,
Distinguished journalists from around the world,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my great honor and pleasure to have this opportunity to share some of my thoughts with you today. I understand that this year is the second year that this conference is held. I offer my congratulations.

On my way here, some words on a statue next to the entrance made a deep impression on me: “Journalists should have the guts to deliver the right message, and they have a responsibility to convey the accurate news to every single person who has the right to know, no matter who they are, or what they do.”
In this regard, I believe that this gathering, bringing together distinguished journalists from around the world, to engage in discussions on the situation on the Korean Peninsula is very meaningful.

I would like to express my deep appreciation to President Park Chong-ryul and the Journalists Association of Korea for organizing this wonderful conference.

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today I plan to talk about the recent situation on the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia and my Government’s initiatives designed to build sustainable peace on the Korean Peninsula and promote cooperation in Northeast Asia.

(Regional Environment and Challenges)

Let me begin with the situation in Northeast Asia.

The following may best encapsulate the dynamics in Northeast Asia: a rising China, a resurgent Japan, an assertive Russia, and an anachronistic North Korea which is pursuing nuclear weapons and economic development. For its part, the United States is now pivoting and rebalancing to Asia.

Northeast Asia is facing a phenomenon referred to as the “Asian paradox.” There is a growing concern that Northeast Asia may be exceptional to the argument that economic interdependence will lead to better security and political relations.

Let’s take a snapshot of where we are. Tensions among countries in the Northeast Asian region are being heightened by three factors: rival territorial claims, historical revisionism and amnesia and the misguided nationalism.

The historical revisionism or denialism is causing serious damage to Japan’s friendly relations with its neighbors. Even the New York Times, among other influential media around the world, has criticized the rise of historical revisionism.

Japan’s ongoing moves to reinterpret its Peace Constitution in such a way as to allow for the exercise of collective self-defense are being watched closely with concern not only by its neighbors but indeed by its own people.

Just weeks ago, a Chinese fighter jet and a Japanese reconnaissance plane narrowly avoided a mid-air collision over the East China Sea, missing one another by a mere 30 meters. It was the first such incident in recent history.
Meanwhile, Vietnamese and Chinese vessels are engaged in a rare stand-off in the South China Sea since their last military conflict ended in 1979.

(North Korea)

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let us now turn to North Korea.

A notable aspect of the situation on the Korean Peninsula is the increasing unpredictability relating to North Korea, especially following the shocking execution of Jang Seong-taek in December last year.

Under the new leadership, North Korea discarded the last shred of ambiguity about both its intention and its capability as it pursues its nuclear ambition.

As to its intentions, North Korea has taken steps to institutionalize its possession of nuclear weapons. North Korea included a reference to ‘a nuclear weapon state’ in the preamble of its revised constitution in 2012.

Weeks before the inauguration of President Park Geun-hye, North Korea went ahead with the third nuclear test. Furthermore, we have also seen the threat to conduct a fourth nuclear test.

North Korea's announcement of the so-called “Byung-Jin Policy,” parallel pursuit of its economic development and nuclear weapons, means that North Korea's obsession with nuclear weapons as a means of guaranteeing its regime survival is now more institutionalized and entrenched.

As well as its ongoing nuclear threat, North Korea has taken a number of provocative actions. North Korea fired 88 short and mid-range missiles within one month and more than 500 artillery shells within two months.

This year alone, we have seen various threats from the North, ranging from drones that intruded into our airspace to verbal criticisms toward the South using some extremely nasty rhetoric even by North Korean standards.

(Trust-Building Process on the Korean Peninsula)

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Facing these realities, the Korean Government seeks to pursue a balanced approach taking into consideration both inter-Korean relations and international environment.

The Park Geun-hye Government aims to establish sustainable peace and to lay the groundwork for peaceful unification on the Korean Peninsula through the trust-building process.
The trust-building process is a balanced and effective approach taking away lessons from decades of experience in inter-Korean relations.

Under this process, we plan to provide humanitarian assistance and implement small-scale cooperation projects while maintaining its strong defense posture. When progress is made on the North Korean nuclear issue, we will be able to begin larger-scale development projects in North Korea.

From a longer term perspective, this policy is to lay the groundwork for peaceful unification to recover a sense of common identity through exchanges and cooperation between the two Koreas.

(Dresden Initiative)

Through her speech in the city of Dresden during her state visit to Germany, President Park Geun-hye elaborated on her policy and made concrete and action-oriented proposals, which are categorized into three agenda:

The first one is the agenda for humanity. It is to resolve the humanitarian concerns of the people on the Korean Peninsula; the second is the agenda for co-prosperity, to build infrastructure for the welfare of the peoples and co-prosperity of the two Koreas; and the third is the agenda for integration, to promote the integration of the Korean people.
In this speech, President Park laid out a number of concrete proposals under these three agenda. Our humanitarian proposals including through the 1,000-day UN project for maternal health and nutrition for infants can be steadily implemented regardless of political considerations.

President Park’s Dresden initiatives include practical tasks that can be accomplished under the present circumstances prevailing on the Peninsula.

The Korean Government will continue to make consistent efforts in its pursuit of this policy on a firm basis of principles and taking into consideration developments in inter-Korean relations.

This is in part because the proposals in this initiative are what should be done in order to prepare for an eventual unification of the Korean Peninsula.

(The ROK’s Policy toward Unification)

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Korea will be undeterred as we embark on our journey toward unification. One of the main obstacles to pursuing this audacious endeavor is the North Korean nuclear issue. In particular, one of central tasks is to prevent the North from conducting another nuclear test and mastering its nuclear weapons and delivery capability.
Fundamentally, to realize the denuclearization of North Korea requires North Korean leaders to understand that “Byung-Jin Policy” cannot succeed so they have to make a strategic decision to give up its nuclear ambition.

Beyond our efforts to solve the North Korean nuclear issue, we also need to obtain international support. Cooperation from the international community is essential in traveling the path toward unification. This is one of the lessons we have learned from German experiences.

Korea intends to make sure that its pursuit of unification will proceed in harmony with the interests of our neighbors and with the blessing of the international community.

Bearing this in mind, the Korean Government is strengthening its ties with its neighbors, with friends and like-minded countries. As part of such efforts, Korea launched “the Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative.” This initiative adopts sectoral approaches and starts with cooperation in soft issues. We believe that this initiative will create an international climate conducive to sustainable peace and an eventual unification on the Korean Peninsula.

At the end of this year, the Korean Government is planning to host Track 1.5 conference. This conference will deal with broader scopes of issues.

The Korean Government has launched the “Peninsula Club” gathering together ambassadors that are accredited to both Seoul and Pyongyang and the “Peace Club” comprising missions in Seoul whose countries have longstanding presence in Pyongyang. Members of these two clubs are important linkage that the isolated North Korea has with the outside world.

As President Park has emphasized, the unification of the Korean Peninsula that we aspire to achieve will prove to be a huge bonanza and will in fact be conducive to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula in Northeast Asia and beyond.

(Conclusion)

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

President Park Geun-hye started to put together ideas about “Trustpolitik” not two or three years but quite a long time ago. The Trustpolitik contains her belief and conviction. The Trustpolitik is pursued on three different levels and geographical scopes: Trust-Building Process on the Korean Peninsula, Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative and Eurasia Initiative, on which I did not go into details today.

The Park Geun-hye Government will consistently pursue these three policy initiatives. Given the current stalemate on the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia, some may wonder whether these policies can be implemented. But I can assure you that President Park’s commitment to the consistent pursuit of the policies is firm and solid.

We should not be out of touch with the real world. Neither should we be settled in the real world with complacency. We must have our feet firmly planted on the ground but have our eyes on the horizon.

We live for today but we must hope for tomorrow. This is the way to make progress and make dreams come true.

The Korean Government will pursue the initiatives so that we will build sustainable peace on the Korean Peninsula and co-prosperity in Northeast Asia and make the Eurasia continent, which has been divided for a long time, a cooperative continent.

I hope that all of you who lead public opinion in your respective countries share Korea’s dream and vision in the course of this conference. Thank you. /End/