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The inter-Korean summit held in June 2000 led to an expansion<br />

of contacts that included the first defence minister talks, but military<br />

talks were less active than in other areas. After the summit, both<br />

Koreas confirmed that the Armistice Agreement remains valid on a few<br />

occasions. The summit opened the way for new transport corridors<br />

through the DMZ and therefore led to UNC-KPA contacts, but talks<br />

were irregular. Meanwhile, the huge discrepancy in visitors from<br />

North to South Korea in comparison with travellers in the opposite<br />

direction indicates that North Korea was more cautious about<br />

accomplishing peaceful coexistence. At the second summit held in<br />

October 2007, the two Koreas pledged to reduce military tension and<br />

work for peace.<br />

Considering long-term confrontation and that peaceful coexistence<br />

implies coexistence rather than interaction, which is a<br />

pre-condition for positive peace, it is only natural that Presidents Kim<br />

Dae Jung and Roh Moo-hyun emphasized peaceful coexistence.<br />

Peaceful coexistence should proceed a “peace regime,” an issue that<br />

had already been raised before the sunshine policy was launched. As<br />

a higher stage of peace, a peace regime should correspond to a stage of<br />

“positive peace.” In other words, it would correspond to a state of<br />

affairs creating working relations prior to the signing of a peace treaty<br />

that would officially end the Korean War. However, considering the<br />

difficulties of creating even some state of peaceful coexistence and the<br />

worsening of relations since 2008, it would require extraordinary<br />

changes to develop inter-Korean relations into such a state. That<br />

North Korea in January 20<strong>09</strong> declared all North-South agreements<br />

non-valid shows that it is very difficult to expect a re-opening of<br />

contacts at the present. The long-term impact of the UNC-KPA talks<br />

General Conclusions<br />

533

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