President Lee Myung-bak conducted a Cabinet reshuffle on August 30, naming five new ministers. What grabs our attention the most is the new unification minister handling relations with North Korea. Former Unification Minister Hyun In-taek served the post for a relatively long time under the current government as a hardliner against North Korea with strict principles. He was replaced by pragmatist and former presidential chief of staff, Yu Woo-ik. In fact, whenever speculation about new unification-related policies arose in the past, the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae excluded Hyun from the reshuffle list, saying the replacement of the unification minister could send the wrong signal to North Korea. This time around, however, Lee appointed former ambassador to China and one of his closest confidants, Yu Woo-ik, as the new unification minister. Here’s Yonhap News Agency reporter Jang Yong-hoon to explain.

The presidential office always dismissed the constant speculation about Hyun’s replacement in order to dispel the image that the government yielded to the demands of North Korea, which had continued to insist on a change of the South Korean unification minister. But the recent, surprising nomination of the former ambassador to China as Seoul’s top point man on North Korea reflects President Lee’s intention to improve the icy relations with Pyongyang. It seems that Lee gave consideration to the strong voices not only in the opposition camp but also in the ruling party, calling for better inter-Korean ties through Hyun’s replacement.

Minister-designate Yu was Lee’s first presidential chief of staff and one of the architects of the president’s four-river restoration project. In his first public statement after being nominated as the new unification minister, Yu hinted at the possibility of a shift in policy toward North Korea. During a news briefing on August 31, Yu said he would try his best to create favorable conditions for peaceful unification. And he added that he would maintain consistency in the government’s policies toward North Korea but he could also show flexibility for the sake of progress in inter-Korean relations. Some predict that the principles of Seoul’s North Korea policy will remain intact, noting that former Unification Minister Hyun, who is known for his “principled” approach to North Korea, was named the president’s special advisor for unification policies. But many experts expect that Yu, a key aide to President Lee and an influential minister with the experience of serving as an ambassador to China, will play a significant role in mending inter-Korean ties.

There are expectations that the minister-designate will demonstrate some flexibility when carrying out North Korea policies. Both South and North Korea have embassies in China, where countless North Korean people engage in various activities in the Beijing area. As the former ambassador to China, Yu is expected to actively utilize communication channels there in the process of negotiating with North Korea.

To come to the point, Yu is likely to seek dialogue with North Korea and a change in inter-Korean ties, while still maintaining the government’s previous stance. Inter-Korean humanitarian issues, like the reunion of separated families, and more investments in the joint Gaeseong industrial park project are being mentioned in the same context. In regards to the project of building a gas pipeline from Russia to South Korea via North Korea, Yu said he believes the project is necessary if it brings about positive outcomes for everyone. So, relevant discussions are expected to follow.

There is speculation that inter-Korean relations could be approached in a more flexible way in the process of negotiating pragmatic economic issues, like the gas pipeline project, on which North Korea and Russia recently agreed. North Korea is facing dire economic difficulties, suffering from food shortages all the time. South Korea may connect the separated families issue with the provision of aid for North Korea. That is, humanitarian issues can still serve as the key to breaking the deadlock in inter-Korean ties. The government could expand humanitarian aid further from the current assistance for vulnerable groups in the North. With the inter-Korean Mt. Geumgang tour program stuck in limbo, North Korea is trying to operate the tour business on its own by luring foreign tourists, including those from China. In an effort to restore the soured relations with Pyongyang, the Seoul government could move first to express its will to resume the suspended tours.

There are many problems to be solved before improving the stalled inter-Korean ties. As for North Korea’s torpedoing of the South Korean warship Cheonan and its artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island last year, the government remains unchanged in its previous position that responsible actions from North Korea are a prerequisite for restarting any inter-Korean dialogue. Concerning the North’s two military provocations against the South, many are wondering what solutions minister-nominee Yu will present when he becomes the new minister of unification.

Of course, Yu cannot alone decide on a solution to resolve the two incidents. But the new minister, who is known as one of the few officials who can gauge the president’s intentions and never hesitates to speak frankly to his boss if necessary, may propose some solutions to the president if he finds it necessary to seek an exit from the crisis created by the two military provocations. It is said that South and North Korea reached some sort of agreement on an exit strategy from the consequences of the incidents during the bilateral contact to arrange an inter-Korean summit. We cannot rule out the possibility that the two sides may make similar attempts again.

Meanwhile, North Korea hailed the replacement of the unification minister in South Korea on September 3 through the Committee for Peaceful Unification of the Fatherland, a North Korean agency responsible for strategies against the South. A spokesman of the committee said that the replacement should not be a temporary scheme to deceive the public and avoid the crisis, and that all North Korean people would watch how the South Korean authorities will act in the future. Attention now swings to how the current inter-Korean relations may change, following the appointment of the new unification minister.

For now, North Korea’s reaction to the new South Korean unification minister isn’t bad. But the North will react differently, depending on what negotiation cards the new minister will use. On a positive note, China and Russia, the relatively generous supporters of North Korea, want Pyongyang to improve ties with Seoul and urges North Korea to do so. If North Korea wants to carry out various economic projects involving Russia or China successfully, it is essential to improve inter-Korean relations. In this vein, it is highly likely that North Korea will sway toward pursuing better ties with South Korea.

Yu will be the third unification minister under the Lee Myung-bak government. We hope the change in the Unification Ministry and the expected pragmatic approach to North Korea policies will help provide a breakthrough in the deadlocked inter-Korean relations and lead to a practical progress in bilateral cooperation and exchanges.


[Interview] Reporter Writes Book on NK Defectors
Those who are drifting from place to place, whether voluntarily or against their will, have something in common. These people are haunted by utter loneliness and tend to hurt the people they love, whether they are refugees devastated by war, children suffering from hunger, defectors searching for freedom or reporters who follow them. We all trembled with loneliness and gave people around us a hard time. For that reason, we were able to become friends who sympathized with one another, regardless of our jobs—journalists or reporters.

A documentary director has published a book about the plight of countless North Korean defectors he had met across the world. Written by reporter of the Chosun Ilbo daily and documentary director Lee Hak-joon, the book “Crossing Heaven’s Border” reviews the author’s four-year journey that he embarked on 2007 to meet North Korean refugees overseas, including those hiding out in China. The book is based on his documentary film with the same title that received 16 media awards both at home and abroad and was nominated for an Emmy Award, a first for a Korean-made documentary. Lee says he began to show interest in the defector issue after he discovered social prejudice against newcomers from North Korea.

Defectors are not aliens. But we, South Koreans, are often startled to meet people who call themselves North Korean defectors. We have biased views that they are from a strange world and have strange thoughts. In reality, they love one another, experience anguish and miss their hometowns, just as we do. I thought it would be very important to convince the South Korean public that the defectors are our neighbors, who are not any different from us, so they will not suffer from discrimination and we will not discriminate against them, either.

Lee came up with the title “Crossing Heaven’s Border” because defectors who cross the border to leave their home country in search of freedom looked as though they were wandering in search of heaven or an ideal world. In order to cross the border together with North Koreans, Lee disguised himself as a North Korean defector and attempted an illegal entry into other countries six times. The book vividly illustrates the urgent situations and dramatic episodes that he couldn’t have experienced if he had not risked his own life. Along the border areas, he happened to meet dealers who “sell” people and haggled with a North Korean soldier trafficking drugs. He was on a smuggling ship drifting on the boundless expanse of the sea with its engines out. At one point in his life, he found himself facing death in a jungle, completely exhausted. Lee talks about an unforgettable memory.

I successfully entered Vietnam illegally with some North Korean defectors. But the police detained us while we were about to get on a bus in a border town the following day. Local residents must have reported to the police. I heard I would be imprisoned for two and a half years or three years if any evidence was found. I had evidence—the tapes that filmed various scenes—, and the North Koreans had their identification cards. They chewed and swallowed their ID cards and we kept handing the tapes over to one another to hide them while being investigated. Of course, we continued to try to contact the South Korean consulate. Fortunately, we were released in two days. At the time, I thought I should pull myself together as a team head to save my team members. I also missed my family members and lastly, I wondered why on earth I engaged in this kind of project.

Lee also witnessed many defectors suffer from pain and separation. The unfortunate refugees included a female defector who was sold to a Chinese tribe and worked like a dog, being beaten every night, but could not escape because she had to take care of her child. Also featured in the book were North Korean defector laborers who slaved away in a hideout logging camp in Siberia. Lee talks about a tearful story of two sisters, one of who never reached freedom.

I discovered a North Korean defector named Young-soon and her older sister hiding in China. Unfortunately, they didn’t have enough money to come to South Korea. While Young-soon managed to reach South Korea, her older sister was caught and repatriated to North Korea. I covered Young-soon’s case for four years. She sent all money she earned in South Korea to North Korean soldiers as a bribe to rescue her sister. But we heard her sister died recently.

Lee wrote every detail about what he saw, heard and felt about North Korean defectors while directly experiencing their hardships. Far from criticizing the North Korean regime or inciting ideological rifts, his book is mostly about people he met—their desire to live happy lives, their risky journey toward that hope and their love and separation. Now he finds himself agonizing about how to live in harmony with North Koreans here in South Korea.

As more and more North Korean defectors are coming to South Korea, I cannot help but wonder how we can live with them. It’s necessary to carry out two major tasks. North Korean newcomers receive weeks-long rehabilitation training at Hanawon upon arriving in South Korea. But they cannot sit idle forever. We need to let them know that they will receive no preferential treatment whatsoever and that they cannot survive here unless they fiercely compete. Secondly, it is necessary to offer education to the South Korean public. Twenty-three-thousand North Korean expatriates have entered South Korea so far. The number may jump to 100-thousand. The newcomers are our neighbors who we have to live with. South Koreans should be provided with proper education not to look at their Northern neighbors differently.

Lee was able to review his four-year grueling journey while writing this book. But his journey doesn’t end here. He will be crossing the “border in the mind” to meet many more North Korean defectors until the day of unification.