(EDITORIAL from the Korea Herald on Aug. 17) - Proposal for N.K.

In his speech marking the 64th anniversary of Liberation Day, President Lee
Myung-bak called on North Korea to denuclearize and promised programs for
economic cooperation in the North on condition that the North demonstrates that
it has decided to give up its nuclear weapons program.
The call for denuclearization and tying it to economic assistance is a
continuation of Lee Myung-bak administration's North Korea policy. As a
presidential candidate, Lee proposed that the South would provide economic
assistance to North Korea in exchange for denuclearization and liberalization.
When it became apparent that North Korea's Kim Jong-il was not yet ready to
abandon his nuclear weapons program, denuclearization became the central
precondition for South Korea's economic assistance to the North. This policy has
been reiterated many times.
Indeed, the president's Liberation Day message contained no surprises as far as
any message toward the North was concerned. It has been sending a consistent
message that was once again repeated in this year's Liberation Day speech:
Denuclearize and we will help you with economic development.
The president's message reveals a number of new emphases within that broad
framework, however. There is no mention of the six-party talks. North Korea
bolted from the multilateral talks to protest U.N. sanctions and has repeatedly
said that it will never return to the talks. Since then, it has been trying to
engage the United States in bilateral talks.
Replacing the phrase "six-party talks" in his speech is "inter-Korean talks." In
his speech, Lee proposed South-North bilateral meetings a number of times. He
called for inter-Korean talks, urging for a "candid and frank dialogue about what
it will take for North Korea to give up nuclear weapons."
He also said that a high-level meeting between the two countries would be
established to "realize a common economic community" in the coming years,
although he predicated this plan on the condition that North Korea showed its
determination to denuclearize.
Lee also proposed a reduction in conventional weapons along with the
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. "Now is the time for the North and
South to come to the table and talk about these issues," he said, again stressing
the need for inter-Korean talks.
Lee summed up his eagerness to engage the North in bilateral talks, saying that
the administration was ready to start talks and cooperation with the North "over
all issues between us, at any time, at any level."
Another notable aspect of Lee's message toward the North is the citing of the
specific areas of cooperation. He said that development projects would focus on
the five areas of the economy, education, finance, infrastructure and quality of
life.
Lee said that such projects would be conducted in cooperation with other
countries and international organizations, another point that is emphasized in
Lee's speech: The South Korean government would "actively seek an international
cooperative program to ensure economic development in the North," he said.
In the absence of North Korea's decision to denuclearize, the proposals contained
in Lee's Liberation Day speech will remain just that.
Lee offered a more specific blueprint on how the lives of North Koreans would be
improved. However, the plan hinges on North Korean denuclearization. Pyongyang
should now take the first step of agreeing to a "candid and frank dialogue."
(END)