02.02.2013 Views

09-151.pdf

09-151.pdf

09-151.pdf

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

stayed with us in times both good and bad. During the times, you have seen<br />

North and South Korea confront each other during the Cold War era and<br />

ice-thawing developments in recent years. I would like to take this<br />

opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to you for your dedication.” 354<br />

Following the introduction of the sunshine policy in 1998,<br />

inter-Korean relations showed signs of improvement. After the first<br />

inter-Korean summit had been announced on April 8, 2000, five<br />

preparatory meetings were held in Panmunjom from April 22-May 18.<br />

These talks were the first government-level, inter-Korean talks held in<br />

Panmunjom since 1994 (cf. p. 385-6). At the June 13-15 P’yôngyang<br />

summit, President Kim Dae Jung and National Defence Committee<br />

Chairman Kim Jong Il agreed in the June 15 Declaration to resolve the<br />

unification issue independently, to recognize similarities in the<br />

unification formulas, to reunify divided families and return long- term<br />

prisoners, to promote balanced economic development through<br />

cooperation and to activate cooperation as well as exchanges in such<br />

fields as culture and sports and, finally, to open talks between North<br />

and South Korean authorities. This declaration, which was based on<br />

the 1972 July 4 Communiqué and the 1991 Basic Agreement, had,<br />

owing to North Korea’s opposition, nothing to say about military and<br />

security matters, not even in general terms about working together for<br />

tension-reduction and confidence-building. Such a situation caused<br />

some disappointment in South Korea. Since the core of inter-Korean<br />

confrontation is military rivalry, a general perception at this time was<br />

that, without resolving military issues, it would be impossible to<br />

354_ T’ongilbu, “Kunjôngwi, chunggamwi songnyôn haengsa manch’ansa” (http://www.<br />

allim.go.kr/jsp/dataroom/ dataroom_speech_view.jsp?id =91013267, December<br />

17, 2007).<br />

466 Peace-keeping in the Korean Peninsula

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!