[NEWS FOCUS] New GNP policy looks toward engaging N.K.

Voters will need to look somewhere other than a candidate`s North Korean policies in order to make their final decision during the presidential election this December, as all the parties appear to be taking the same line.

The Grand National Party announced this week the details of its new North Korean policies under the title "Vision for peace on the Korean Peninsula."

The new policies have turned visibly progressive for the nation`s signature conservative party.

For one, it now agrees - although conditionally - on holding summit talks with North Korea. It also supports setting up economic representative offices in Seoul and Pyongyang, providing electricity for the North and giving humanitarian food aid.

The party has also decided to drop its opposition to inter-Korean business projects such as the Mount Geumgang tour and the Gaeseong industrial park, on condition that North Korea does not take any provocative actions.

The party will lift its travel ban and endorse its lawmakers and members to travel to North Korea and will permit the distribution of North Korean broadcasts and newspapers as well.

Following the breakthrough agreement at the six-party talks this February, the GNP announced in March it will take on a softer position towards North Korea, drawing mixed reactions from both inside and outside the party.

"Our position has basically changed to address the need for such businesses to maintain and develop for the co-prosperity of the two Koreas," said Rep. Chung Hyung-keun, who led the special committee. Chung, a former prosecutor and intelligence official, has been one of the toughest hard - liners against North Korea.

While staunch conservatives criticize the plan for "risking the party`s identity," others also question the genuineness of the change. The latter views that the policy shift on print would lead to little change in the actual policymaking process as most of the new positions are still based on reciprocality with the North.

Previously, the GNP had opposed the Roh Moo-hyun administration`s humanitarian aid and business exchanges, claiming that such gestures "spoiled" the North.

The GNP had been struggling in its attempt to change its North Korean policies following an improvement in the nuclear standoff. The party deemed that remaining sturdily against engaging the North could lead to isolation of the party in light of moves by the United States and others to normalize relations.

"It is true that so far, the GNP has put too much emphasis on security rather than exchange and cooperation. We oversaw the trend of Northeast Asia to go beyond the Cold War era," Chung Hyung-keun said.

But Chung also criticized rival parties, pointing out that the policies "lack consistencies and only managed to expand the quantity of inter-Korean exchanges rather than bringing a quality change for the sake of North Korea`s reform."

But such a position by the GNP also lacks reality and is devoid of any principles that can be considered different from that of the other parties, observers said.

For instance, demanding North Korea dismantle its political prison while also encouraging exchanges will not be well-received by the reclusive North nor would it ever work, they said.

To criticism that the new policies are a political show for the upcoming presidential election, Chung said, "That is not true. We have prepared these with much pain and debate."

Some question whether the GNP`s bold move could work for or against the party - whether it would lure in progressive voices or shake off original conservative voters.

In the meantime, the two leading presidential hopefuls Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye gave positive reactions to the new policies.

The new GNP vision pledges among other things, denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through disallowing North Korea nuclear weapons; setting a basis for peaceful reunification; ensuring the co-prosperity of the two Koreas through reforming the North; providing North Korea the basis to have an independent economy and to rediscovering ties through social and cultural exchanges.

On condition that the denuclearization process is implemented, the GNP will also push for establishing a peace treaty when the security tension is alleviated and support the normalization of ties between North Korea and the United States and North Korea and Japan is established.

To expand the infrastructure between the two Koreas, the party will push for the construction of highways and regular flights and assist the modernization of industrial complexes in the North and designate several areas as special economic zones for intense development works.

On a humanitarian level, the party will support sending annual rice aid of 150,000 tons. It will also push to provide powdered milk and nutrients for pregnant women, children and the elderly.



By Lee Joo-hee



(angiely@heraldm.com)