[Keynote Speech]

“Integration of Korea and the Advanced North East Asia”

Park, Se-Il
Chairman, Hansun Foundation

Asia and the international community have long awaited North Korea’s voluntary and naturally grown reforms and normalized relation with the outer world. Had the North followed such a track, we, the South, would have offered full cooperation. Unfortunately, the prospects for reform are bleak as the North remains unyielding with its nuclear aspiration and hereditary succession.

Many have expressed concerns, rightly, and warned against dramatic turn of events in North Korea. To sustain the idea and the reality of regional peace and security, it cannot be overstressed that all the inhabitants of Asia and the world should be vigilant to any changes in the North Korean theater.

Yet, we are obviously gathered here to accomplish and discuss more than that. Our gathering today purports to take the issue of Korean unification, not as a mere subject for concerns and responses, but as both a challenge and opportunity to achieve unprecedented level of regional peace and prosperity.

What we want to develop here is a framework of regional governance, i.e., what course of action Korea should take as the bearer of primary responsibility, what types of regional and international cooperation should be at work throughout and after the process of integration.

For this end, the Korean government should work on the following three things.

Firstly, it has to pursue a proactive integration policy and stop dwelling on the ideas of maintaining status quo and/or managing the current division. Leaving behind the past when the primary policy directives of South Korea were the preservation of the demarcation line, the Korean government should move forward toward the era of the integrated Korea and the advanced East Asian region.

For this end, Korean government should:

Emphasize the value and the importance of integration, thereby building the national consensus to this end;

Seek both hard and soft approaches to induce the North to denuclearization and reforms toward normalization of status in its relation to the outer world;

Build up firm and concrete plans as to how it will link dramatic changes in the North to the realization of integration of the peninsula, especially in economic terms.

Win the heart of North Korean people. The goodwill of the South should be fully conveyed to North Koreans.

Secondly, the government should be able to persuade the concerned states in the region, including the US, China, Japan, and Russia, into sharing a common perception about Korean integration, and its worth as an essential component in the peace and prosperity of the East Asia as a whole.

To this end, the government should;

Increase the regional awareness that the integration of the Korean peninsula in a democratic and liberal fashion, as shown in Article 4 of the Korean   Constitution, is a critical prerequisite to the peace and prosperity of the region;.

Help all concerned states to realize that the integrated Korea, and not a divided one, will present greater benefits and advantages to everyone, whereas the perpetuated division of the peninsula, on the contrary, is certainly disadvantageous to the peace and prosperity of the region.

Thirdly, Korea should be able to offer a vision and outlook of an integrated Korea while seeking ways to induce active cooperation and participation from the neighboring states.

Korea should be able to state how and where an integrated Korea will position itself in terms of diplomacy, security, economy and regional prosperity. Korea should be able to identify of its position on the issue of a peace regime of Northeast Asia. It should also be able to state of its vision on how an integrated Korea can make a constructive contribution to the economic development and prosperity of Northeast Asia.

The integration and economic development in the northern part of Korea, I firmly believe, will facilitate developments in China’s three Northern Provinces, and the Russian Far East   region, enabling regional cooperation to come into fruition. In this process, North East Asia will become one of the most dynamic and rapidly developing regions in the world in this century.

Integration is a pressing issue not only for South Korea, but to all in this part of the world. Denuclearization is hardly conceivable without integration. The possible exodus of North Korean refugees into China cannot be prevented without integration. Most of all, the great era of the unprecedented regional peace and prosperity will not be ours without the integration of the Korean peninsula.

First and foremost, the members of the East Asian region should forge a venue for dialogue where future vision of Northeast Asia can be discussed. Such venue should be pursued and promoted at various levels, ranging from Track I to Track 1.5 to Track II. At these talks, we should seek ways to better shape the future order of regional security and economy while serving the region’s interest in peace and stability.

A variety of agreements on a wide range of issues are conceivable if and when the participating nations can focus their discussion fully on the long-term interest of the regional development, while putting aside those short-term interests for individual development.

Unfortunately, for North Korea, conditions are not ripe for its full participation. Such talks, therefore, should commence among five-parties in the first place, while opening the possibility to expand to six-party talks. The imperatives of these talks should be directed to proactively welcoming the coming era of Northeast Asia’s development and prosperity.

In this vein, I would also like to propose that a dialogue between bi-partisan and independent think tanks from five nations be held on a regular basis. These independent institutions should be the core members in drafting the blueprint for the future development of Northeast Asia. It is my sincere wish that conclusions and agreements from these talks be disseminated to respective governments and civil societies. By doing so, I venture to say that shared perception, coherent understanding, common goals, and persistent efforts on the integration of Korea and the Northeast Asia’s prosperity and peace can take firm roots within the decision making circles and civil communities of these five nations. 

I once again want to stress that we should not forget that the true peace and prosperity of Northeast Asia cannot be built on the divided Korean peninsula. North Korea may either change, or persist, whether gradually or dramatically. In any case, we should be prepared to materialize the prosperity and peace of Northeast Asia, on the foundation of integrated Korea.

I sincerely ask you to join this historical and sacred mission of opening a new chapter of history in this region of North East Asia.