ID :
203408
Thu, 08/25/2011 - 07:33
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/203408
The shortlink copeid
*** INTER-KOREAN RELATIONS
S. Korea to Draft Reunification Plan That Protects Fiscal Soundness
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- South Korea's point man on North Korea said on Aug. 18 Seoul will draft a plan on how to finance the potential unification with Pyongyang without undermining fiscal soundness.
Unification Minister Hyun In-taek also said in a report to lawmakers that the draft plan will be made in a way that would minimize the burden on low-income families.
His comments came a week after a state-run think tank estimated that the initial costs for the integration of the two Koreas could vary from 55 trillion won (US$50 billion) to 249 trillion won ($229 billion).
The estimate, which is projected to cover the first year of integration, was based on the assumption that the two neighbors could be unified two decades from now, according to the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul.
South Korea plans to announce its draft plan this month after consulting with related ministries.
Seoul has been working on details of a so-called unification tax since last year when President Lee Myung-bak floated the idea of using taxpayer money to cushion the cost of unification.
The move has angered Pyongyang, which has long suspected that Seoul could be plotting to absorb its impoverished northern neighbor.
Lee has said unification with North Korea is a must, not a matter of choice.
Still, there are no signs that the two Koreas, divided for nearly six decades, could be reunited anytime soon, given Seoul's animosity toward the North over its two deadly attacks on the South last year.
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S. Korea Repatriates 2 N. Korean Fishermen Rescued Near Sea Border
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- South Korea repatriated two North Korean fishermen rescued by South Korean Navy near the tense western sea border with the North earlier this week, Seoul's Red Cross said on Aug. 18.
The two men were handed over to the North at the truce village of Panmunjom on Aug. 18 after expressing their wish to return to their homeland, the Red Cross said.
Their boat drifted into South Korean waters on Aug. 16 while they were fishing, the Red Cross said.
The move came a week after South Korea returned seven North Korean fishermen rescued after their fishing boats strayed into South Korean waters near the border.
It is not uncommon for North Koreans to stray into South Korean waters near the sea border due to bad weather or a malfunction in their boats. But some North Koreans also defect to the South by boat.
South Korea returns North Korean fishermen who drift into the South if they want to return, but accepts any North Korean defectors who want to live in the South.
------------------------
North Korea Accepts South Korea's Monitoring for Flour Aid
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea has granted rare access to its daycare center and three other facilities by South Korean civic monitors over Seoul's recent food aid, the head of a monitoring team said on Aug. 18.
The seven monitors visited Sariwon, a city south of the capital Pyongyang, earlier this month to ensure 300 tons of flour aid had reached children and other intended beneficiaries, said Lee woon-sik, who led the monitoring team.
It was the first flour shipment to North Korea since the North's deadly shelling of a front-line South Korean island last year, and the first batch of 2,500 tons of flour that a coalition of South Korean civic groups plans to deliver to the North by September.
The monitors videotaped the four North Korean facilities where Seoul's aid was stored, Lee said, adding he plans to conduct additional monitoring in the isolated country. He said his groups gave the videotape to the Unification Ministry for analysis.
The ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said it will keep a close eye on the situation before making its overall assessment on monitoring in the North.
The latest move comes amid widespread allegations that the North could divert outside food aid to its elite and military, a key backbone of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's rule.
In July, the European Commission said it had struck a deal with North Korea on a tough monitoring mechanism as it announced a decision to provide the North with aid worth 10 million euros to help feed 650,000 people.
Many defectors in South Korea claimed that they never received any flour and rice aid provided by South Korea.
The North has relied on foreign handouts since the late 1990s when it suffered a massive famine that was estimated to have killed 2 million people.
------------------------
Presidential Favorite Park Stresses Trust in Inter-Korean Relations
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- Park Geun-hye, a strong contender for the next South Korean presidency, suggested on Aug 23 that Seoul adopt a new strategy to build trust with Pyongyang and cooperate with regional powers to find the right mix of "carrots and sticks" to effectively deal with the North's nuclear ambition.
The eldest daughter of the late former president Park Chung-hee, Park Geun-hye is the front-runner for next year's presidential race, commanding a large lead in opinion polls ever since her bitter loss to President Lee Myung-bak in 2007 for their party's nomination. Park's image of keeping promises to the public has appealed to voters, as South Korean politics is often plagued by broken promises over major policy pledges.
In a contribution to the latest online edition of the U.S. bimonthly journal Foreign Affairs, Park, 59, proposed "trustpolitik," a more accommodative approach compared with the Lee administration's hard-line policy against the socialist neighbor.
"If North Korea undertakes additional nuclear tests, South Korea must consider all possible responses in consultation with its principal ally, the United States, and other key global partners," the former leader of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) wrote. "Even if Seoul must respond forcefully to Pyongyang's provocations, it must also remain open to new opportunities for improving relations between the two sides."
The North, which conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, has made similar threats in recent years to boost its nuclear deterrent force in an apparent reference to its nuclear weapons programs.
"A lack of trust has long undermined attempts at genuine reconciliation between North and South Korea," the four-term lawmaker said. "Peace between the two Koreas will not be possible without a combined effort."
Without such an effort, military brinkmanship may only increase, which could affect regions well beyond Asia, she said.
"For this reason, forging trust and sustainable peace on the Korean Peninsula represents one of the most urgent and crucial tasks on Asia's list of outstanding security challenges."
Her remarks came as inter-Korean relations plunged to one of their lowest points since last November, when North Korea bombarded the South Korean border island of Yeonpyeong, killing two Marines and two civilians. On Aug. 22, Pyongyang threatened to legally dispose of all South Korean property at its scenic mountain resort, blaming Seoul for not responding to its proposals on how to handle the assets.
Park also suggested the government seek an "alignment policy" by mixing a tough line against North Korea and a flexible policy open to negotiations at other times.
"To implement such an alignment policy, South Korea must first demonstrate, through a robust and credible deterrent posture, that it will no longer tolerate North Korea's increasingly violent provocations," Park said. "It must show Pyongyang that the North will pay a heavy price for its military and nuclear threats."
Even if Seoul and its allies strengthen their posture against Pyongyang's nuclear brinkmanship, Park called on them to continue projects that would enhance economic cooperation, humanitarian assistance and investment opportunities.
One such project would be a Eurasian railway project. In a 2002 Pyongyang meeting with Kim Jong-il, she proposed restoring a trans-Korean line, severed since the 1950-53 Korean War, to link it to China and Russia.
"To ensure that the first set of forces triumphs, policymakers in Asia and in the international community must not only take advantage of existing initiatives but also adopt a bolder and more creative approach to achieving security," she added.
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- South Korea's point man on North Korea said on Aug. 18 Seoul will draft a plan on how to finance the potential unification with Pyongyang without undermining fiscal soundness.
Unification Minister Hyun In-taek also said in a report to lawmakers that the draft plan will be made in a way that would minimize the burden on low-income families.
His comments came a week after a state-run think tank estimated that the initial costs for the integration of the two Koreas could vary from 55 trillion won (US$50 billion) to 249 trillion won ($229 billion).
The estimate, which is projected to cover the first year of integration, was based on the assumption that the two neighbors could be unified two decades from now, according to the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul.
South Korea plans to announce its draft plan this month after consulting with related ministries.
Seoul has been working on details of a so-called unification tax since last year when President Lee Myung-bak floated the idea of using taxpayer money to cushion the cost of unification.
The move has angered Pyongyang, which has long suspected that Seoul could be plotting to absorb its impoverished northern neighbor.
Lee has said unification with North Korea is a must, not a matter of choice.
Still, there are no signs that the two Koreas, divided for nearly six decades, could be reunited anytime soon, given Seoul's animosity toward the North over its two deadly attacks on the South last year.
------------------------
S. Korea Repatriates 2 N. Korean Fishermen Rescued Near Sea Border
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- South Korea repatriated two North Korean fishermen rescued by South Korean Navy near the tense western sea border with the North earlier this week, Seoul's Red Cross said on Aug. 18.
The two men were handed over to the North at the truce village of Panmunjom on Aug. 18 after expressing their wish to return to their homeland, the Red Cross said.
Their boat drifted into South Korean waters on Aug. 16 while they were fishing, the Red Cross said.
The move came a week after South Korea returned seven North Korean fishermen rescued after their fishing boats strayed into South Korean waters near the border.
It is not uncommon for North Koreans to stray into South Korean waters near the sea border due to bad weather or a malfunction in their boats. But some North Koreans also defect to the South by boat.
South Korea returns North Korean fishermen who drift into the South if they want to return, but accepts any North Korean defectors who want to live in the South.
------------------------
North Korea Accepts South Korea's Monitoring for Flour Aid
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea has granted rare access to its daycare center and three other facilities by South Korean civic monitors over Seoul's recent food aid, the head of a monitoring team said on Aug. 18.
The seven monitors visited Sariwon, a city south of the capital Pyongyang, earlier this month to ensure 300 tons of flour aid had reached children and other intended beneficiaries, said Lee woon-sik, who led the monitoring team.
It was the first flour shipment to North Korea since the North's deadly shelling of a front-line South Korean island last year, and the first batch of 2,500 tons of flour that a coalition of South Korean civic groups plans to deliver to the North by September.
The monitors videotaped the four North Korean facilities where Seoul's aid was stored, Lee said, adding he plans to conduct additional monitoring in the isolated country. He said his groups gave the videotape to the Unification Ministry for analysis.
The ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said it will keep a close eye on the situation before making its overall assessment on monitoring in the North.
The latest move comes amid widespread allegations that the North could divert outside food aid to its elite and military, a key backbone of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's rule.
In July, the European Commission said it had struck a deal with North Korea on a tough monitoring mechanism as it announced a decision to provide the North with aid worth 10 million euros to help feed 650,000 people.
Many defectors in South Korea claimed that they never received any flour and rice aid provided by South Korea.
The North has relied on foreign handouts since the late 1990s when it suffered a massive famine that was estimated to have killed 2 million people.
------------------------
Presidential Favorite Park Stresses Trust in Inter-Korean Relations
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- Park Geun-hye, a strong contender for the next South Korean presidency, suggested on Aug 23 that Seoul adopt a new strategy to build trust with Pyongyang and cooperate with regional powers to find the right mix of "carrots and sticks" to effectively deal with the North's nuclear ambition.
The eldest daughter of the late former president Park Chung-hee, Park Geun-hye is the front-runner for next year's presidential race, commanding a large lead in opinion polls ever since her bitter loss to President Lee Myung-bak in 2007 for their party's nomination. Park's image of keeping promises to the public has appealed to voters, as South Korean politics is often plagued by broken promises over major policy pledges.
In a contribution to the latest online edition of the U.S. bimonthly journal Foreign Affairs, Park, 59, proposed "trustpolitik," a more accommodative approach compared with the Lee administration's hard-line policy against the socialist neighbor.
"If North Korea undertakes additional nuclear tests, South Korea must consider all possible responses in consultation with its principal ally, the United States, and other key global partners," the former leader of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) wrote. "Even if Seoul must respond forcefully to Pyongyang's provocations, it must also remain open to new opportunities for improving relations between the two sides."
The North, which conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, has made similar threats in recent years to boost its nuclear deterrent force in an apparent reference to its nuclear weapons programs.
"A lack of trust has long undermined attempts at genuine reconciliation between North and South Korea," the four-term lawmaker said. "Peace between the two Koreas will not be possible without a combined effort."
Without such an effort, military brinkmanship may only increase, which could affect regions well beyond Asia, she said.
"For this reason, forging trust and sustainable peace on the Korean Peninsula represents one of the most urgent and crucial tasks on Asia's list of outstanding security challenges."
Her remarks came as inter-Korean relations plunged to one of their lowest points since last November, when North Korea bombarded the South Korean border island of Yeonpyeong, killing two Marines and two civilians. On Aug. 22, Pyongyang threatened to legally dispose of all South Korean property at its scenic mountain resort, blaming Seoul for not responding to its proposals on how to handle the assets.
Park also suggested the government seek an "alignment policy" by mixing a tough line against North Korea and a flexible policy open to negotiations at other times.
"To implement such an alignment policy, South Korea must first demonstrate, through a robust and credible deterrent posture, that it will no longer tolerate North Korea's increasingly violent provocations," Park said. "It must show Pyongyang that the North will pay a heavy price for its military and nuclear threats."
Even if Seoul and its allies strengthen their posture against Pyongyang's nuclear brinkmanship, Park called on them to continue projects that would enhance economic cooperation, humanitarian assistance and investment opportunities.
One such project would be a Eurasian railway project. In a 2002 Pyongyang meeting with Kim Jong-il, she proposed restoring a trans-Korean line, severed since the 1950-53 Korean War, to link it to China and Russia.
"To ensure that the first set of forces triumphs, policymakers in Asia and in the international community must not only take advantage of existing initiatives but also adopt a bolder and more creative approach to achieving security," she added.
