The annual meeting of the 27-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum opened in Singapore on July 22. During the three-day conference, the South Korean delegation concentrated its energy on stepping up international pressure on North Korea to resolve the recent shooting of a South Korean tourist at the North’s Mt. Geumgang and enlisted support from many countries, including the Untied States. On July 24, the last day of the forum, the chairman’s statement included Seoul’s call for a prompt solution to the shooting incident and Pyongyang’s demand for the South’s implementation of the October 4th declaration signed by the leaders of the two Koreas last year. The Seoul delegation lodged a strong protest against the inclusion of the issue of the inter-Korean agreement in the statement, and Singapore, the host of the forum, eventually deleted both wordings from the final statement of the meeting. A joint statement requires unanimous approval, but a chairman’s statement is usually drafted on the host’s authority after considering the opinions of the participants. So a chairman’s statement is not legally binding. Diplomatic experts say it is very unusual that part of a chairman’s statement was removed from the closing address. Here’s Professor Lee Cheol-gi from Dongguk University to explain the backdrop for the mishap.

The South Korean government sought to intensify international pressure to address the tourist shooting incident, while North Korea claimed that the recent deadlock in inter-Korean ties resulted from Seoul’s refusal to implement inter-Korean agreements reached at two summit meetings in 2000 and 2007. The two issues were initially included in the chairman’s statement. But the South Korean delegation felt the burden of the insertion of the inter-Korean declaration issue into the chairman’s statement, and it requested the omission of the Oct.4 declaration phrase.

In a move to elicit cooperation from North Korea to investigate the shooting death of a South Korean tourist at the Mt. Geumgang resort, Seoul mentioned international cooperation for the first time on July 15. The ASEAN Regional Forum, or ARF, was the first international meeting during which Seoul broached the issue. South Korean Foreign Minister Yoo Myung-hwan said in his keynote speech that Seoul urges North Korea to allow a South Korean investigation team to visit the North in order to look into the shooting incident and prevent a recurrence of such a tragedy. He also said Seoul expects a prompt solution of the matter through inter-Korean dialogue. Yoo’s remarks reflect Seoul’s intention to settle the problem quickly by putting it under the global spotlight.

South Korea has been demanding that the two Koreas organize a fact-finding team to look into the Mt. Geumgang shooting, but the North has given no response. Seoul attempted to use the ASEAN Regional Forum as an opportunity to press Pyongyang to cooperate with the South’s efforts. That’s why the government proposed adopting the Geumgang incident as an official agenda of the multinational security forum before the session began. The proposal was discussed during the meeting of the National Security Council chaired by President Lee Myung-bak on July 18. The Seoul government seems to have tried very hard to draw out a closing statement formally addressing the shooting incident.

But North Korea took its own political agenda to the forum as well. The North argues that the Geumgang issue isn’t a diplomatic concern but a matter of the two Koreas alone. Instead, Pyongyang officials used diplomacy to have the October 4th inter-Korean accord mentioned in the final statement of the international forum. The inter-Korean agreements made at the two previous summit talks have made little progress since the inauguration of the current South Korean government, and North Korea seems to have decided to use international meetings to press Seoul to implement the agreements.
North Korea demanded the chairman’s statement contain supports for inter-Korean dialogues based on the October 4th joint declaration in its showdown with Seoul’s plan to include the tourist shooting in the same statement. The October 4th inter-Korean declaration, in particular, was unanimously adopted at the U.N. General Assembly last year, which justifies North Korea’s move. In a diplomatic sense, Pyongyang appears to have gained an upper hand in the tension with Seoul. The chairman’s statement, before the revision, reflected more of the North’s position than the South Korean one. For that reason, I think Seoul requested the chairman’s stament drop any mention of the inter-Korean agreement.

The October 4th declaration was the result of the second inter-Korean summit between former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, which took place from October 2 to 4 in 2007. The 10-point declaration, consisting of eight main points and two separate clauses, mostly deals with joint economic cooperation programs. North Korea hopes to carry out the projects as early as possible, but the conservative Seoul government is in a different position. Seoul must spend an astronomical amount of money to implement the agreements, posing a significant burden on the current government. So the South Korean delegation did not want the ARF statement to include strong support for the October 4th declaration signed under the previous, liberal government. Along with North Korea’s angry response, the current stalemate in inter-Korean relations is expected to drag on.

Seoul aimed to resume authorities-level dialogue with North Korea after the Mt. Geumgang incident. But the South made a big request that the North couldn’t accept easily, which became a stumbling block in resolving the already complicated inter-Korean issues. For North Korea, Seoul’s request for the omission of the inter-Korean agreement in the ARF statement represents South Korea’s official position that it will not inherit the October 4th accord. The stalled inter-Korean ties will inevitably be prolonged. Given the situation, the Seoul government needs to devise new, future-oriented strategies and policies to handle relations with Pyongyang.

Following their confrontation at the security forum in Singapore, South and North Korea will likely engage in a fiercer diplomatic war in international arenas. North Korean Foreign Minister Park Ui-chun visited Vietnam after the ARF meeting and flew to Teheran, which was hosting a meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement, in a move to drum up support for the October 4th inter-Korean accord. South Korea also sent Oh Joon, deputy foreign minister for international organization, global issues and treaties, to Iran so that the statement of the meeting would reflect Seoul’s stance on inter-Korean relations in a balanced way. Given the North’s aggressive attitude, it is highly possible that Pyongyang will raise this issue at the U.N. General Assembly to be held in September. With the official inter-Korean dialogue channel frozen, the two Koreas are expected to compete for international support more intensely. The two sides should be able to resume dialogue as soon as possible in order to fine-tune the impending issues in a sensible manner. 　 [Interview] Businessman Gives More Job Opportunities to N. Korean Defectors.
The number of North Korean defectors who have come to South Korea has already surpassed 10-thousand. With the number increasing exponentially, assimilation of the newcomers to South Korean society is emerging as a new social problem. Their economic independence, in particular, is a significant issue. With the purpose of solving this problem, a special factory opened in Paju, northwest of Seoul, on July 9. The factory named ‘Mezzanine I Pack’ is the first South Korean plant dedicated to creating jobs for North Korean defectors here in the South. Let’s listen to Kim Beon-seok, director-general of social welfare organization Merry Year Foundation, which initiated the factory project.

The world ‘mezzanine’ may sound rather unfamiliar to many people. The origin of the word, meaning ‘intermediate’ in Italian, accurately reflects our intention. I think North Korean defectors are people in the ‘intermediate’ stage, before resettling as members of South Korean society. We established a box-making factory to hire the defectors. A CEO meeting is held once a week. It is a gathering of technicians, team heads and employees. I hoped all of them would think of themselves as the CEO of this factory. So I named it ‘Mezzanine I Pack,’ in the hope of underlining the meaning of ‘I’ and reminding the employees that they are the owners of the factory. During the CEO meeting, North Korean defectors share their opinions and difficulties with us and we try to solve their problems. Our ultimate goal is to help them stand on their own two feet and start their own companies.

Currently, 30 North Korean defectors are working with eight South Korean technicians at the plant. Not all the newcomers can work here, though. Applicants are required to complete an eight-week training program offered by Merry Year Foundation. The program includes introductory courses about social success and financial technology. If the participants are absent from the training session or late for the classes three times or more, they can’t get their certificates. The strict rules reflect the foundation’s purpose that those who don’t prepare for their future themselves will not be given a job. The employees of the factory are quite satisfied with their occupation after making it through the difficult training course.

They are very proud of their job. It makes them feel happy and proud just getting on the commuter bus operated by the factory. Their faces have become brighter, compared to when they first came here. I frequently hear them say they are happy. Their faces and remarks show how they feel now. When I hear them say so, I feel I’m doing a good job, a rewarding job.

Kim is the director-general of Merry Year Foundation, and he is also a minister. The members of his church wished to use church offerings to help out neighbors in need. Compliant with their wishes, the welfare foundation was launched in January this year. And the first outcome was the establishment of the box-making factory. Kim was prepared for the factory project even before the foundation was set up, and the six years of efforts have finally born fruit. And the factory is now giving new hope to North Korean expatriates.

Actually, this isn’t the first company for North Korean defectors. There have been many such companies, but they failed to survive. There are various reasons for their failure. Most of all, they overlooked the cultural aspect. We set up a factory, but we paid great attention to the social welfare of North Korean employees at the same time. We’ve also offered them counseling and educational programs in order to help them overcome cultural estrangement. They receive a lot of help from us when dealing with both economic and educational matters.

As the number of North Korean defectors coming to the South increases every year, their unemployment is becoming a serious problem. If the situation remains unchanged, they will comprise another marginalized group in this society. Kim stresses that it is more important to create stable jobs for them than to simply give them a temporary subsidy or one-time gift-certificates.

A foreign businessman said that his company sells bread to hire people, and not hire people to sell bread. Likewise, our company will continue to provide the employees with skills needed to maintain their livelihood, not simply with food. Also, I hope to work with those interested in ‘social sharing’ and establish a second, third such factory. Merry Year Foundation will create an appropriate support system for those factories.

We do hope Kim will be able to set up more factories in which many more North Korean newcomers may restore hope and fulfill their goals.