South Korean Assistance Requested for Railway Construction

Ñ Professor Yoo ~ Chairman Kim’s visit to Russia and participation in the summit signifies North Korea’s present and future participation in international

society. North Korea’s summit meeting with Russia seeks to restore its relations with Russia and China over its relations with the U.S., and is an attempt

to secure a greater leverage in its talks with the U.S.

Ñ Professor Cho ~ The Bush Administration has dealt with the North Korean missile issue by moving forward in plans to develop the Missile Defense System. This situation is problematic for North Korea-U.S. relations and Russian-U.S. relations. Both the North and Russia should have come up with respective assessments and concrete plans to deal with the situation.

Ñ Professor Yoo ~ The weakening of relations between the South and North has to do with the deadlock with the U.S. but it also has to do with past history and the lack of progress on the Social Indirect Capital Assistance front. North Korea-Russia’s decision to cooperate on issues such as the railway system may have opened up a way to reach a breakthrough in South-North talks.

Ñ Professor Cho ~ The reason for deterioration in South-North relations has to do with U.S.’s stronghand demand that even North Korea’s ordinary weapons be subjected to negotiations. North Korea means to aim against such U.S. measures in raising the American troop withdrawal issue.

Ñ Professor Yoo ~ Russia cannot complete the railway connection by itself, but the fact that South Korea cannot be directly involved creates a large problem for us. North Korea’s expressed commitment to denying terror and using arms for peace can be seen as an effort to accelerate the progress of North Korea-U.S. talks.

Ñ Professor Cho ~ The focal point of North Korea-U.S. relations is the application of the Geneva Convention. Currently the Geneva Convention is in a state of progress, not completion. North Korea has insisted that it is too much for the U.S. to demand definitive results from nuclear weapons investigations before reaching any agreements at the beginning stages. North Korea wants to show through the summit that it has recourse to other resources such as Russia and China if the U.S. insists on such strong measures. It is also a counter response to U.S.’s stated intention to lessen its involvement in talks with the North.

Ñ Professor Yoo ~ Since connecting the railway is meaningless without connecting to the South, it will help to disestablish the division line.

Ñ Professor Cho ~ Socialist countries such as North Korea and Russia have built their economies on import substitution. They have preexisting railways connecting industries and factories. Connections between industries are already solidly built. Since Russian and North Korean railways are almost connected anyway, the summit decision to negotiate railway connections signals an invitation for South Korea’s direct assistance.

Ñ Professor Yoo ~ Russia has shown that it can have great influence on the Korean peninsula through the summit. Russia has spent the last ten years trying to stabilize the country as it implemented its reforms, and they are trying to find a way to establish itself as a superpower in the Northeastern Asia by breaking into the Korean peninsula.

Ñ Professor Cho ~ Even if China and Russia form alliances with North Korea, its character is different from that of the past. It is not an unconditional alliance founded on ideological grounds. In contrast to past when talks between Socialist nations consisted of creating a unified Socialist front, the new talks indicate new values formed around international law and justice. Of course, they envision the new world order without U.S.’s singular dominance.

Ñ Professor Yoo ~ Chairman Kim’s long distance train ride is a conscious imitation of his father’s (Chairman Kim Il Sung) past visit to the former Soviet Union.

Ñ Professor Cho ~ This is connected to the issue of succession. It also signifies an attempt to restore the human line established by Kim Il Sung during his visit. Also a train ride provides many opportunities to study the actual location and has great effect.

Ñ Professor Yoo ~ There are talks that suggest that North Korea’s recent efforts to secure a strong relationship with China and Russia indicates its intention to establish a three-way relationship in the Northern region. Yet, seeing how the character of the relations significantly differ from the past, the possibility that we will revert to a new cold war situation seems weak. It is true, however, that the competition between the six major powers of Northeastern Asia vying for political advantage is becoming prominent. We will have to take active measures to deal with this development.

Ñ Professor Cho ~ The North Korea-Russia summit indicates that the increasing discord between the U.S., China, and Russia will make North Korea retreat further and further into the crevice between China and Russia. This does not necessarily mean, however, that North Korea, Chin, and Russia relations will revert back to the past. The point of departure is different now. Precisely because the mutual political, economic and social cooperation between the three nations are motivated by primarily economic reasons, South Korea’s role will inevitably become more and more important.

Kim Young-Sik spear@donga.com