[Opinion] Will Europe`s Tolerance of North Korea Continue?

At a time when criticisms against the tolerance policy toward the North is increasing within South Korea, and conservative leaders in the U.S. and Japan are losing interest in improving relations with North Korea, one part of the world is increasingly embracing North Korea – Europe. I traveled in Europe for a week, meeting and talking with German and Swedish government officials and scholars, and I am certain that this trend will continue in the future.

It is not clear why Europe would have such an interest in North Korea when they do not have any evident reasons for reaching an urgent understanding with the North and when they are facing problems in the neighboring Balkans. However, the European Union`s Chairing Committee Representative, Prime Minister Persson`s visit to Pyongyang last May shows that Europe has the will to play a constructive role in the reconciliation between South and North Korea.

In the case of Germany, there are many reasons for emphasizing an interest in North Korea. Many Germans remember well that President Kim Dae Jung`s Berlin Declaration was one of the major events that made the South-North Joint Summit a reality. Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer comes from the Green Party which is more directly embracing of North Korea. Also, the Germans believe that their experience of division during the Cold War and unification can help.

Germany recently passed the decision to reopen the North Korean Embassy which was disassembled after reunification. Germany plans to dispatch five foreign ministers in North Korea after approval and plans to run the largest embassy as a Western nation.

Swedish officials are proud of the fact that they have offices in South and North Korea, and the DMZ. Prime Minister`s visit to Seoul last month for the third Asia Europe Meeting and the `Declaration on Peace in the Korean Peninsula` which came out of his talks with President Kim greatly contributed to the spread of tolerant sentiment for North Korea.

After the Pyongyang visit, EU officials tried hard to communicate several messages to North Korean officials at regular meetings. More than anything else, the EU officials emphasized that North Korea must improve its human rights record and execute economic reforms. Borge Lingren, agricultural economics scholar and former Swedish ambassador to Vietnam, advised that North Korea learn from the experiences of China and Vietnam rather than follow the `Swedish model.`

He suggested that North Korea has a lot of space to make improvements in agricultural production, even if the visits to Shanghai`s General Motors plant cannot help them produce the kind of cars that Volvo or Saab make.

Europe also stressed to the North the importance of talking and reconciling with South Korea. One European official said, ``North Korea can stop worrying about America.`` He explained that improvements in relations with the South will encourage the U.S. to work on its relations with the North.

European officials readily acknowledge that a tolerance policy toward the North will not easily succeed. The biggest obstacle to Europe-North Korean economic cooperation is North Korea`s foreign debt costing millions of dollars left over from 1970 and which the North has not been able to repay. If North Korea cannot repay an appropriate amount, European businesses who want to interact with North Korea will not give export letter of credit.

Also, Europe has not been able to play a direct role in the Korean Energy Development Organization (KEDO) because the German Green Party and the Swedish government oppose nuclear development. If EU wants to expand its investments in KEDO, it will become a major political issue in the two countries.

Although Europe is currently actively pursuing a tolerance policy toward North Korea, the important question is whether it will continue to do so in the future. Aurel Cruising, professor at the German Heidelberg University, stresses that the Korean Peninsula is still a low priority for Germany.

It appears that, on this matter, the Belgium chaired EU will provide many clues as it discusses whether or not to send an economic delegation to Pyongyang this year. At a time when no country wants to take an active role in the Korean Peninsula, EU`s tolerance policy is a welcome thing in both South and North Korea. What results, however, the EU`s efforts will achieve, we can only tell with time.

Peter Paik (Director of the Washington Korean Economy Research Institute)

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