Asia Times: Despite political chill, emotional ties stay warm



	January 16, 1999	atimes.com

The Koreas

Despite political chill, emotional ties stay warm
By Ahn Mi-Young

SEOUL - Kim Yon-Shill was charming and told somejokes, but she would have won her guests' hearts even if she juststood still.

Indeed, the 23-year-old guide had the group of elderly SouthKorean tourists already in the palm of her hand just by beingNorth Korean.

Since November, many South Koreans have been taking cruises tothe once forbidden North Korea and taking short trips inland. Mosthave been so eager to meet and talk to ''ordinary'' North Koreansthat the sight of the likes of Kim moves them to tears.

Said 72-year-old Kang So-In as he kissed the young guide on thecheek: ''I feel as if I saw my own granddaughter."

Such a scene would have been unthinkable as recently as two yearsago. After all, the North and the South remain technically at warsince the Korean War of 1950-53.

Despite the peninsula's division into North and South and thepolitical animosity between them, the emotional bonds between thepeoples of the two countries apparently remain intact.

Thus, although conservative groups have been critical ofPresident Kim Dae Jung's policy of engagement toward the North,most South Koreans have been cheering their government's efforts.

Not that everything has been picture perfect. For instance, Seoulstill suspects Pyongyang of dispatching submarines to spy on theSouth.

Also, the United States is turning tough over undergroundfacilities in North Korea that it suspects to be nuclear sitesunder construction in Kumchangni, just 40 km north of a nuclearcomplex whose operations were suspended under a 1994 agreement.

But Kim Dae Jung has put in place a ''business is business''policy, which means politics will not affect business deals withthe North.

As a result, South Korean companies have been busy thinking updeals to propose in Pyongyang. One of the busiest conglomerateshas been Hyundai, which has promised some 940 million U.S. dollarsto the North Korean government in return for exclusive rights todevelop the North's Mt Chumming areas.

The chaebol is also eager to turn the Mt Kumgang region in thesouthwest into an international tourism complex that would attractnot only the expected hordes of South Koreans, but also Japanese,Chinese and Western tourists.

As it is, scenic Kumgang is already playing host to groups ofSouth Koreans who make the rough treks to the mountains withlittle complaint.

One recent visitor to North Korea says he wished they had beenable to speak to more North Koreans other than their guides andperhaps sample more of the local dishes. But he adds: ''I feel it(was like) a dream to be back on my home soil."

The Hyundai conglomerate has also proposed to transform NorthKorea's West Coast into a new industrial region. This, itbelieves, would combine South Korean capital and North Koreanlabour to produce goods for export.

''We do not have to go as far as Indonesia or Thailand fortransfer of our labour-intensive plants for producing garment,shoes or stuffed things,'' says a Hyundai executive. ''We haveskilled but cheap North Korean labour who share the same languageand work ethics."

But though such ventures have the blessing of the South Koreangovernment and most of the country's people, some politicalobservers say Pyongyang is playing Seoul for a fool. While theNorth is getting aid and money from South Korean firms, theyargue, it continues to strengthen its military power.

But experts like economics professor Yoon Tok-Yong of YonseiUniversity retort it is unlikely that another war will eruptbetween the two countries once their economies become entwined.

Others say a strengthening of economic and cultural ties betweenthe two Koreas can only lead to better political ties. CommentsVice Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun: ''Increased business andcultural ties would make it inevitable to start certain form ofsemi-governmental dialogue to support it."

Still, someone has yet to suggest that the recent cross-borderbusiness dealings have anything to do with North Korea's reporteddecision this week on its conditions for allowing U.S. access tothe suspected nuclear site at Kumchangni.

Instead of its previous demand of 300 million dollars, Pyongyangis now supposedly amenable to fertilisers or food aid.

Inter-Korean commercial ties have also been affected by theregional economic crunch, which has led to a decrease in tradingvolume. Trade between the two Koreas reached a total of only 232million dollars during January-November 1998, a decline of 31percent from the same period in 1997.

For now, it has been mostly the North that has been doing much ofthe ''cultural exports'' to the South.

As a result, it is no longer a rarity for South Korean TVviewers to watch North Korean-produced dramas like 'Lim Kok-jong',about a modern-day Robin Hood, or North Korean cartoons. Thisfall, a 30-member North Korea circus troupe will cross the borderto perform jointly with a Southern group for a month.

And although a record two million South Koreans out of work, theSouth remains all too willing to help the North.

In 1998 alone, South Korean civic groups donated 20.5 milliondollars worth of beef, corn, fertilisers and medical supplies tothe North. The government supplied 11 million dollars worth ofcorn and other foodstuff, according to the Unification Ministry'seducation institute.

And when the International Red Cross announced recently that itwas suspending its food aid delivery to North Korea and would bereplacing this with medical supplies, many South Koreans wereupset. The Red Cross suspects that Pyongyang has been divertingthe food aid to feed its military.

But in an editorial, the popular 'Chosun Ilbo' newspaper said: ''It isheart sinking to see (the Red Cross) decision (when) we think ofstarving children there. The Red Cross must have lost its patiencewith North Korea. (We) wish that the Red Cross would change mindand resume food supply on humanitarian grounds."

Days later, Seoul said it was willing to deliver fertilisers andseeds to the North, with no strings attached, if Pyongyang asksfor them.

''We are ready to deliver them when the North asks us to do so,''said Unification Minister Kang In-Duk. ''We would no longer demandPyongyang for reunion of separated families as a condition for ourdelivery of fertilisers and seeds to North Korea.'' (Inter Press Service)

Korea Asian Sex News | Asian Sex Gazette