Kim Dae-jung leaves indelible legacy in relations with North Korea

SEOUL, Aug. 18 (Yonhap) -- Over the 60-year history of a divided Korean Peninsula
shadowed by war, ideological strife and constant military tension, there is one
watershed moment that stands out in the memory of all Koreans.

In June 2000, the leaders of South and North Korea met for the first time at
Pyongyang's international airport. The two men grasped each other's hands and
exchanged radiant smiles, historic images that were broadcast live around the
world and splashed across the front pages.
The summit, and an ensuing joint statement pledging a wide range of cooperative
projects to promote reconciliation, heralded a sea change after decades of Cold
War rivalry.
"The history of inter-Korean relations can be divided into two -- the time before
the June 15 joint statement and the time after," Paik Hak-soon, a North Korea
specialist at the non-governmental Sejong Institute in Seoul, said.
"His sunshine policy reversed the tide from distrust and confrontation to
reconciliation and cooperation," Paik said.
Long persecuted for his stance against the country's former authoritarian leaders
and frequently attacked by opponents as a "communist," Kim established a landmark
legacy in inter-Korean relations that thawed dramatically after he took office in
1998.
Reactions to his presidency, however, varied.
Under Kim's tenure, families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War united again for
the first time, border tensions were considerably reduced and South Korean
businesses made inroads into North Korea, with Hyundai Group spearheading the
investment. Railroads severed by the war were restored, and inter-Korean meetings
became close to routine.
But scandals that emerged after he left office, including revelations of US$500
million that was paid by Hyundai to Pyongyang before the summit, and North
Korea's first nuclear test in 2006, spurred controversy. Conservatives denounced
Kim's "giveaway" economic aid, alleging it might have ended up in the hands of
the North's military and not of those it was intended to reach.
President Lee Myung-bak, whose election last year ended a decade of liberal rule
that began with Kim, is one of his staunchest critics. During his European tour
earlier this month, Lee said, "Allegations are emerging that the tremendous
amount of aid money was not used to help North Korean society open up but aid its
nuclear buildup."
Kim, in a July 10 interview with the BBC conducted days before he was
hospitalized, defended himself and expressed regret over Lee's North Korea
policy.
Lee's accusation "lacks logic to everyone except for those who want to believe
so," as the aid was made not in the form of cash but rice and fertilizer, he
said.
Kim also appealed to the United States to "give one more chance to North Korea"
through dialogue. "I am very sad when I think that this may be a second Cold War
era," he said in the interview.
Under Kim Dae-jung, South Korean economic aid to the North jumped to $1.64
billion from the $280 million sent by his predecessor Kim Young-sam. The aid
further increased under the succeeding Roh Moo-hyun administration to $2.4
billion. During his 15 months in office, the conservative Lee government has
spent $250 million on aid for the North.
Kim's early years in office were plagued by incidents that stoked inter-Korean
tension. A North Korean submarine intruded into South Korean waters in the East
Sea, a tourist was detained in the North's Mount Kumgang resort, and a bloody
naval skirmish occurred in the West Sea borders. But his sunshine policy
continued, and in a symbolic address made on the last leg of his European tour in
Berlin in March 2000, he proposed official talks and a wider range of
non-governmental exchanges with North Korea. The warming gesture led to the first
inter-Korean summit three months later. The second summit was held by Roh in
2007.
An avid reader on a wide range of subjects, Kim developed his own blueprint for
reunification with North Korea. His "Three-stage Unification Theory," introduced
in the early 1970s, set unification as a goal to be reached gradually, starting
by first recognizing the sovereignty of both nations. His idea, controversial
during the Cold War era when authoritarian rulers promoted "unification through
absorption," later became the foundation of Seoul's North Korea policy.
Rhee Bong-jo, vice unification minister under Kim, said his lifelong vision for
North Korea raised South Korea's profile in regional politics dominated by
superpowers like the U.S., China and Japan.
"He had studied inter-Korean issues for a long time and had a clear vision even
before he became president," Rhee said. "He would be the founding father of
reunification if it is achieved, a pioneer and strategist in inter-Korean
relations."
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)