Inter-Korean Summit
to Speed Up Peace Process,
Economic Community

Two leaders lay foundation for comprehensive economic cooperation and exchange programs

The historic 2007 South-North Korean Summit has laid a solid foundation for both countries to join work toward a permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula and a prospering economic community.
The second summit, which came seven years after the first one, will also serve to speed up inter-Korean cooperation and exchanges in many social, cultural and humanitarian areas.
As President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il agreed in a joint declaration to push for the official termination of the Korean War, a crucial change appears to be inevitable in the security structure of the Korean Peninsula. In the eight-clause declaration they signed at the end of the three-day summit from Oct. 2-4, Roh and Kim agreed to "cooperate to pursue issues related to declaring the end of the Korean War."Cheong Wa Dae said the clause signifies that South and North Korea, along with the United States and possibly China, would push for a declaration to terminate the war in order to replace the current armistice with a permanent peace regime.
In particular, the latest agreement confined the holder nations of the future discussions to "three or four parties directly concerned,"opting for either a forum of South and North Korea and the U.S. or that of South and North Korea, the U.S. and China.
South and North Korea technically remain at war, as their 1950-53 fratricidal conflict ended in a truce without a peace treaty. Although they now are in a state of virtual ceasefire, accidental skirmishes have taken place in the past five decades.
Roh, therefore, has already discussed a peace treaty with U.S. President George W. Bush in talks such as the latest one in Sydney on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
Bush has also expressed his willingness to sign a peace treaty on the condition that North Korea abandon its nuclear ambitions and dismantles all of its nuclear facilities.
South and North Korea have agreed to "oppose war on the Korean Peninsula and to adhere strictly to their obligation to non-aggression"and to "designate a joint fishing area in the West Sea to avoid accidental clashes."The Oct. 4 Joint Declaration also contained several other significant agreements in the political area, including the virtual regularization of the inter-Korean summit.
"Whe South and the North have agreed that their highest authorities will meet frequently for the advancement of relations between the two sides,"the declaration stated.
Cheong Wa Dae explained that the text could not contain the term "regularization"due to Pyongyan's position that the two Koreas are in a special relationship, which is different from the normal bilateral relations of two foreign countries.
"We put the phrase 'meet frequently'instead. It means the regularization of the summit talks between the top leaders,"a South Korean delegate told reporters on condition of anonymity.
The top leaders from the South and North also agreed on a meeting between the prime ministers in Seoul and a meeting between the defense ministers in Pyongyang next month to discuss follow-up measures to back up the joint declaration.
The joint declaration will also pave the way for stronger economic ties, attracting more and larger South Korean firms to inter-Korean development projects.
The agreement reflects Roh's idea of forming a common economic block on the Korean Peninsula to develop more industrial complexes based on the spirit of mutual trust.
Roh and Kim agreed to create a "special peace and cooperation zone in the West Sea"in and around Haeju, about 75 kilometers northwest of Gaeseong, the site of the inter-Korean industrial complex, and only 20 kilometers away as the crow flies from the South Korean port city of Incheon.
The two Koreas will arrange working-level meetings soon to create a seaway in the West Sea to enable South Korean civilian ships to use a port near Haeju. Nearby waters will be declared a peace zone in order to allow civilian vessels involved in inter-Korean projects to cross the maritime border.
The area, known as the Northern Limit Line (NLL), has been the flashpoint of occasional military flare-ups between the two Koreas, as Pyongyang has demanded the redrawing of the maritime border, which was designated by the United Nations Commission at the end of the Korean War in 1953 but was not included in the armistice agreement.
South Korean officials said the new agreement will help ease military tensions around the sea border.
If South Korean firms build production lines in Haeju, it will form an industrial belt linking Haeju and Gaeseong. The area is strategically important for both sides because it has the long-term potential of growing into a hub for the manufacturing industry and becoming a base for trade with China.
"For economic cooperation and peace, South and North Korea will promote investment, improve industrial infrastructure and develop natural resources,"the declaration said.
They also agreed on the need to create joint shipbuilding complexes in Anbyeon in the East Sea and Nampo in the West Sea and strengthen cooperation in such fields as agriculture, medical treatment and environmental protection.
To support the industrial activities of South Korean firms operating in the North, Seoul and Pyongyang will improve cross-border railways and roads. Seoul also promised to complete the first-stage construction of the Gaeseong Industrial Complex at the earliest possible date and begin the second-stage work to expand the complex in line with an agreement earlier signed by the two Koreas.
The two leaders also came up with a package of agreements for the promotion of social and cultural cooperation at their just concluded summit.
One of the key agreements is the reconnection of the railroads in the South and North, which will allow South Koreans to travel to China by train to attend the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. It will be the first time for South Korean citizens to travel abroad by land since the Korean Peninsula was divided in two after the Korean War.
According to the agreement, cheering squads from South Korea will be allowed to use North Korea's railway to go to Beijing next year. North Korean squads may take the trains as well at Gaeseong Station.
The railroad line between Seoul and Sineuiju, a town near the North Korea-China border was severed during the war but was reconnected as far as Gaeseong in 2003 following an agreement made at the first inter-Korean summit in 2000. A pilot cross-border operation was conducted last May, but no commercial operations have yet commenced.
The two sides agreed to set up a direct air route between Seoul and Mt. Baekdu on the North Korean border with China so that South Korean tourists can visit the mountain through North Korea.
The decision on the operation of direct flights was first reached in 2005 after the North decided to allow trips to Mt. Baekdu. The South provided asphalt pitch to the North for the repair of runways at the airport there, but the project is still pending due to various reasons including the North's nuclear programs.
The two leaders also reached an agreement on humanitarian cooperation as well as exchanges and cooperation in the social and cultural sectors.
They vowed to facilitate the reunion of families separated by the war between the South and the North.
There has been some progress on this issue as the two Koreas have held 15 rounds of face-to-face reunions for some 15,000 separated family members and six rounds of video conferences for 3,000 people. However, it has become an urgent issue as the first generation is getting older and every year, 4,000 to 5,000 separated family members die.
To address the issue, the agreements include the project to hold more video conferences and seek more cooperation once a family reunion center is completed at Mt. Geumgang in the North.
Wary of possible disastrous situations due to floods and drought, they agreed to provide mutual emergency assistances from a humanitarian perspective. nw

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il make the second summit in seven years in Pyongyang on Oct. 2-4.