(EDITORIAL from the Korea Herald on Aug. 24)

Kim's last gift

The state funeral of former President Kim Dae-jung, who was buried in the
National Cemetery yesterday, appears to have provided an occasion for a thawing
of inter-Korean relations.

That may prove to be the last gift Kim made to the
divided nation as a champion of inter-Korean reconciliation.
On the sidelines of the funeral, top aides to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il met
senior South Korean officials -- the first high-level contact since the
inauguration of President Lee Myung-bak's administration in February last year.
It was a truly encouraging development that North Korea's funeral delegation
brought Kim Jong-il's message to President Lee. Dialogue seemed to be opening at
the summit level.
It is too early to determine where the dialogue is headed. No breakthrough may
come anytime soon, given the past experience of cumbersome, protracted
inter-Korean negotiations.
Nonetheless, the South will have to strive to keep an open channel of dialogue
with the North. It cannot be belittled even if it fails to help settle disputes
in the short term. To borrow from Winston Churchill, "to jaw-jaw is always better
to war-war."
Kim Ki-nam, secretary of the Central Committee of North Korea's Workers' Party,
who headed the funeral delegation, indicated the communist state desires
rapprochement with South Korea. In meeting with Unification Minister Hyun
In-taek, Kim said he would like to have "candid talks."
Previously, the North declined direct contact with the South Korean government.
It even boycotted a South Korean offer to provide food aid. President Lee's
administration, which aims at negotiating from a position of power, has since
ignored the North.
The South Korean tactic apparently worked when the North signaled a change in
attitude earlier in the month. Kim Jong-il invited the chairwoman of Hyundai
Group to visit Pyongyang and promised to lift restrictions the North imposed on
inter-Korean business exchanges. In addition, the North released a Hyundai
employee held in custody since March.
Kim Jong-il also took similar action toward the United States, inviting former
President Bill Clinton and releasing two U.S. journalists held in the North. The
North recently proposed to hold direct talks with the Obama administration on its
nuclear program.
If it is worthwhile for South Korea to keep a channel of dialogue with the North,
it should be the same with the United States. Washington does not necessarily
have to insist on the format of six-way talks in dealing with the North's nuclear
program. One-on-one talks are an option.
It does not take a genius to conjecture why the North has changed course all of a
sudden and calls for talks with South Korea and the United States. The communist
state, feeling international sanctions unbearable, is apparently attempting to
find its way out through dialogue with South Korea and the United States.
But the North should be reminded that no substantial progress will be made unless
and until it commits itself to the complete, verifiable and irrevocable
dismantlement of its nuclear program. North Korea, which conducted its second
nuclear test on May 25, deserves the sanctions being administered under U.N.
Security Council Resolution 1784.
The nuclear test was "deplorable," as the late Kim Dae-jung said in the May 25
entry in his diary. He said, "We should never accept this."
As Kim claimed, the Obama administration may have erred when it did not engage
North Korea when it sought dialogue with Iran and Syria. But that did not justify
the nuclear test by any means. The only way it can undo its egregious mistake is
to abandon its nuclear ambitions once and for all.
By doing so, the North will be able to extricate itself from its economic
hardship with the massive support President Lee has conditionally committed
himself to, in addition to freeing itself from international sanctions.
(END)