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12일 남북당국회담이 결렬되며 개선 기미가 보이던 남북 관계가 다시 한번 오리무중에 빠졌다. 실무접촉 때부터 양측이 신경전을 벌인 수석대표의 ‘격’으로 인해 남북 대화 창구가 단절된 것이다.
우리측은 실무 회의 당시 류길재 통일부 장관과 김양건 노동당 통일전선부장의 참석을 촉구했으나, 북쪽이 애매한 태도를 보여 김남식 통일부 차관을 수석대표로 한 대표자 명단을 보냈다. 북한은 강지영 조국평화통일위원회 서기국 국장을 단장으로 내세웠다.
대표단 명단을 교환한 이후 북측은 차관 수석대표에 의의를 제기하며 장관급 인사를 요구했다. 여러 차례 전화 접촉에도 불구하고 이견의 메워지지 않자, 북측 연락관은 오후 7시쯤 철수를 통보했다. 이후 오후 8시경 김형석 통일부 대변인은 북측이 대표단 파견을 보류한다는 사실을 알렸다.
김 대변인에 의하면 우리가 차관을 수석대표로 내세운 것에 대해 북한은 “남북당국회담에 대한 우롱이고 실무접촉 합의에 대한 왜곡으로서 엄중한 도발로 간주하고 회담 무산에 대한 책임은 전적으로 남측 당국에 있다”고 주장했다.
이날 김 대변인은 “북한은 비정상적인 관행에 따라 권한과 책임을 인정하기 어려운 인사를 장관급이라고 통보해 오면서 오히려 우리측이 부당한 주장을 철회하는 조건에서만 당국회담을 나올 것이라”고 전했다.
이와 관련, 정홍원 국무총리는 12일 국회에서 “일방적인 굴욕은 진실성 없는 대화”라며 “일방적으로 양보를 하는 것도 누차 해왔지만 남북이 격에 맞는 대화를 해야 할 때”라고 거듭 강조했다.
일각에서 우리 정부의 협상 전략과 접근 방식에 대한 비판이 나왔지만, 수십 년에 걸쳐 쌓인 남북간 불신, 정치 구조의 차이와 지속적인 소통 창구의 부재를 지적하는 이들도 적지 않았다.
정성장 세종연구소 수석연구위원은 “남북한 정치체제의 차이를 고려하지 않고 류길재 통일부장관과 김양건 통일전선부장이 당국회담의 수석대표(단장)로 나서지 않은 것”이라며 양측의의 경직성과 전략적 미숙함을 지적했다.
당국회담 무산으로 이달 말 브루나이에서 열리는 아세안지역안보포럼(ARF)에 관심이 쏠리게 되었다. 아세안지역안보포럼은 한국, 미국, 중국, 러시아 등 지역 주요국 대표들이 참석하는 외교장관회의로서, 이 때 남북 대표가 별도로 만날 가능성이 있다. 우리측은 윤병세 외교부 장관을 보낼 예정이며, 북측의 박의춘 외무상을 보낼지는 아직 불확실 하다.
(코리아 헤럴드 신현희 기자/번역 이상주 인턴 기자)
<관련 영어 기사>
Prospect of cross-border reconciliation remains bleak
By Shin Hyon-hee
The burgeoning hopes for cross-border reconciliation are quickly fading since the two Koreas scrapped their much-anticipated talks over lead negotiators in another sign of deep-rooted mistrust.
The two-day meeting was called off late Tuesday by Pyongyang after insisting that Seoul send as the head of the delegation its unification minister, not vice unification minister as suggested.
No statement has yet been released by North Korea since. But in a cancellation notice it berated the South for the collapse of the gathering, ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-suk said.
The North called the South’s choice of vice minister a “mockery of the governmental talks, distortion of the agreement between working-level officials (on Sunday) and a grave provocation,” he told a news conference.
Seoul dismissed the claim as an “abnormal custom,” saying Pyongyang’s own chief negotiator, who is a senior official from its agency in charge of South Korean affairs, could not be on the same level as minister.
“It doesn’t make sense at all to reject dialogue by taking issue with the level of vice unification minister who can take care of, discuss and resolve inter-Korean issues,” Kim said.
Prime Minister Chung Hong-won criticized Pyongyang’s lack of sincerity. “Dialogue should be accepting each other on the same level. Dialogue in which one side is unilaterally humiliated has no authenticity,” he told lawmakers.
The cancellation of the meeting, which would have otherwise been the first high-level government dialogue since 2007, crushed the resurgent mood for a thaw in cross-border ties frayed by both sides’ hard-line policies, missile and atomic tests and threats of nuclear war.
Analysts caution that any protraction of the blame game may blow the hard-won chance for dialogue for good.
The North said it was “postponing” its plan to send a delegation, while the South called for a return to dialogue.
While critics questioned Seoul’s negotiation strategy and tactics, others pointed to years of distrust and animosity, differences in their political systems and the absence of regular communication channels as the underlying reasons for failure.
“A flexible approach was necessary toward the level of the lead delegate because there were no exact counterparts between the two Koreas due to differences in their systems,” said Cheong Seong-chang, a senior fellow of the private Sejong Institute, in his commentary.
“But the talks foundered eventually because of the two governments’ lack of bargaining power and rigidity.”
Observers are now deflecting their attention to the annual ASEAN Regional Forum that will be hosted by Brunei at the end of this month.
The region’s largest security conference brings together Pyongyang, Seoul, Washington and other key players. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se is scheduled to attend and may have a chance to meet with his North Korean counterpart Pak Ui-chun as other top diplomats have done in the past.
(heeshin@heraldcorp.com)
Prospect of cross-border reconciliation remains bleak
By Shin Hyon-hee
The burgeoning hopes for cross-border reconciliation are quickly fading since the two Koreas scrapped their much-anticipated talks over lead negotiators in another sign of deep-rooted mistrust.
The two-day meeting was called off late Tuesday by Pyongyang after insisting that Seoul send as the head of the delegation its unification minister, not vice unification minister as suggested.
No statement has yet been released by North Korea since. But in a cancellation notice it berated the South for the collapse of the gathering, ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-suk said.
The North called the South’s choice of vice minister a “mockery of the governmental talks, distortion of the agreement between working-level officials (on Sunday) and a grave provocation,” he told a news conference.
Seoul dismissed the claim as an “abnormal custom,” saying Pyongyang’s own chief negotiator, who is a senior official from its agency in charge of South Korean affairs, could not be on the same level as minister.
“It doesn’t make sense at all to reject dialogue by taking issue with the level of vice unification minister who can take care of, discuss and resolve inter-Korean issues,” Kim said.
Prime Minister Chung Hong-won criticized Pyongyang’s lack of sincerity. “Dialogue should be accepting each other on the same level. Dialogue in which one side is unilaterally humiliated has no authenticity,” he told lawmakers.
The cancellation of the meeting, which would have otherwise been the first high-level government dialogue since 2007, crushed the resurgent mood for a thaw in cross-border ties frayed by both sides’ hard-line policies, missile and atomic tests and threats of nuclear war.
Analysts caution that any protraction of the blame game may blow the hard-won chance for dialogue for good.
The North said it was “postponing” its plan to send a delegation, while the South called for a return to dialogue.
While critics questioned Seoul’s negotiation strategy and tactics, others pointed to years of distrust and animosity, differences in their political systems and the absence of regular communication channels as the underlying reasons for failure.
“A flexible approach was necessary toward the level of the lead delegate because there were no exact counterparts between the two Koreas due to differences in their systems,” said Cheong Seong-chang, a senior fellow of the private Sejong Institute, in his commentary.
“But the talks foundered eventually because of the two governments’ lack of bargaining power and rigidity.”
Observers are now deflecting their attention to the annual ASEAN Regional Forum that will be hosted by Brunei at the end of this month.
The region’s largest security conference brings together Pyongyang, Seoul, Washington and other key players. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se is scheduled to attend and may have a chance to meet with his North Korean counterpart Pak Ui-chun as other top diplomats have done in the past.
(heeshin@heraldcorp.com)
