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Two Koreas fail to narrow differences over Gaeseong

GAESEONG -- The two Koreas failed to narrow their differences over how to reopen the idle joint industrial zone during a second round of negotiations in Gaeseong on Wednesday.

After walking down parallel lines throughout five sessions, they agreed to meet again in the border city on Monday, while plant managers continue to check and repair the facilities.

Seoul’s chief delegate Suh Ho demanded Pyongyang display a “responsible stance” over the unilateral entry ban and consequent damage for the firms operating plants in the district. He heads the Unification Ministry’s inter-Korean cooperation district support directorate.

Suh repeated the need for “institutional measures” to preclude another suspension and ensure easy passage, communications and customs as key to “future-oriented normalization” of the park.

Park Chol-su, Suh’s North Korean counterpart and vice director of the General Bureau of the Special Zone Development Guidance, countered by calling for swift maintenance of facilities and their early resumption.

He urged the end to “the whole activities hindering the normalization of the complex,” citing the June 15, 2000 joint peace declaration.

“Both sides have a common perception that we should maintain and develop the Gaeseong park,” Suh told reporters after the meeting.

“But to reactivate it the North’s side proposed doing so as soon as the facility checkup ends, while our side pointed out that without a sufficient, clear guarantee for the prevention of another suspension we may end up in the same situation again, about which we’ll discuss more next week.”

As they opened negotiations, Suh demanded “measures with which anyone could acknowledge that the North will never arbitrarily block the access and communications and pull out its employees.”

“We stressed that the Gaeseong park must be a safe one that ensures free corporate activity, and for its stable growth we should develop Gaeseong into an international industrial zone so that foreign businesses will invest and move in,” he added.

At a lunch meeting with editorial writers in the local press, President Park Geun-hye reiterated that she would not allow the complex to be rerun with no safeguards.

“It’s not right to rush to reopen the district under this unstable situation where we cannot be assured of fundamental things,” she said.

 To build trust, she called on Pyongyang to be “cautious about its use of words,” referring to the regime’s accusation that Seoul was “impairing the highest dignity” by staging military drills with Washington and endorsing U.N. sanctions.

“Dignity lies not only with (the North’s side) but with our own people,” Park said.

“In that regard, don’t they need to move in step with international norms and common sense? ... Who will invest in Gaeseong otherwise?”

The talks followed the first official inter-Korean dialogue in years at the border village of Panmunjeom last Saturday. After 16-hour marathon negotiations, the two sides tentatively agreed to reactivate the factory zone “when ready.”

But they appeared far apart on who is to blame for the complex’s unprecedented suspension and how to prevent a relapse.

After Wednesday’s talks ended, Pyongyang blamed Seoul’s “insincere attitude” for the failure to yield results.

“The South side came to the meeting with no realistic suggestions for resuming the industrial district project and intentionally put up obstacles to the talks’ progress with insisting inappropriate arguments to shift responsibility for its suspension on the North,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said later in the day.

“Though the North side exhibited an active stance by presenting a draft agreement, the South to the last deliberately evaded discussing the problem by repeating the same old claims, and even showed an inappropriate attitude by delaying the schedule for the next meeting on the pretext of internal affairs on the pretext of internal affairs.”

Nestling just north of the heavily fortified border, the complex launched in 2004 had been the last remaining symbol of inter-Korean rapprochement, riding out armed clashes and political ups and downs.

In April, Pyongyang suddenly barred South Koreans’ entry to the district and withdrew its 53,000 workers in the face of U.N. sanctions and Seoul-Washington military exercises.

In response to Seoul’s offer of dialogue earlier that month, the communist country demanded apologies for “provocations” such as military drills, international sanctions and other “behavior impairing our dignity.”

It accused the Park administration of making the park a scapegoat of its “confrontational policy” and shifted blame for any shutdown after its decision to pull out its own staff later on.

Suh led the 40-member South Korean delegation including government officials and journalists.

Another 59 businesspeople and 36 from the complex management committee, KT Corp., Korea Electric Power Corp. and other organizations came after to check their facilities left idle for more than three months.

The remainder of the 123 companies running plants in Gaeseong plans to send their representatives in groups through this weekend.

By Shin Hyon-hee and Joint Press Corps
(heeshin@heraldcorp.com)