The agreement between the two Koreas on Tuesday that defused military tensions on the peninsula is expected to provide a surge of momentum for South Korean leader Park Geun-hye, who has been struggling to gain public support to bring her reform drive back on track. 

The deal could mark a watershed moment for Park’s presidency, as the president still has little to show in the way of accomplishments in the first half of her single, five-year term, according to experts.

If the Park administration could hold North Korea to its promise to hold a joint event for separated families next month and not to stage any provocations in the near future, the agreement could also serve as the foundation for the legacy she hopes to build during her remaining years in office, such as by holding an inter-Korean summit, they pointed out. 

The greatest achievement for Park was that she has proven that her principled approach to North Korea’s provocations worked to the point of a breakthrough.

Some hours after the deal was reached, Park gave herself a pat on the back by saying the agreement was an outcome of her consistent principles to respond sternly to Pyongyang’s provocations, while also leaving the door open for dialogue.

Despite risking a possible collapse in the marathon talks, Park raised the stakes by publicly pressuring the North to apologize for the recent land mine blast and also prevent a recurrence during a presidential meeting Monday.

“A clear apology and prevention of a recurrence was a must this time,” she said of the talks through her spokesman Min Kyung-wook.

“North Korea demanded a halt to the psychological warfare from the loudspeaker broadcast, but we insisted on the principles during the talks.”

The inter-Korean breakthrough was a rare case of Park’s leadership based on principle and rule of law that has worked out positively, said political philosophy professor Yoon Pyeong-joong of Hanshin University. 

Her firm and unwavering stance has been viewed by many as being uncommunicative and isolated. She has been under constant criticism as her rigid and closed-off leadership has failed to embrace public demands, particularly at times of national crisis such as the Sewol ferry disaster and the outbreak of the Middle East respiratory syndrome.

But the talks ended successfully this time because she was backed by strong support from South Koreans on her hard-line stance against North Korea, and also because she delegated full power to Kim Kwan-jin, her top security officer, communicating with him on a real-time basis during the talks, Yoon said. 

“She has to remember that she was able to succeed this time because she had this strong support from the public and also because she openly communicated with her aides, unlike previous cases when she went her own way without listening to others.”

Park’s popularity is expected to surge for the time being. According to a study conducted by Korea Research, 7 in 10 South Korean citizens had a positive view on the Park administration’s hard-line stance against North Korea’s provocations. The percentages of respondents who positively evaluated Park’s job in the first half of her five-year presidency also reached 46.9 percent, it said. 

Park restoring public confidence will help her push ahead with her reform drive to overhaul the nation’s labor market, education, and the public sector, experts said. 

On the diplomatic front, the breakthrough in the inter-Korean ties is expected to place Park in a more stable position to better balance South Korea’s vital relationship with two rival powers -- China and the U.S.

Park is scheduled to visit Beijing to attend events to mark the end of World War II next week and hold a summit with U.S. President Barack Obama in October in Washington.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Ming said Tuesday that all foreign leaders visiting Beijing next month would attend a military parade.

His remarks suggested Park would attend the parade seen as a showcase of China’s growing military strength.

Cheong Wa Dae dismissed the reports and said that the office was still in talks with the Chinese government on the details of Park’s trip next month.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)