SEOUL — South and North Korea are poised to open discussion on unification, as the possibility of forming a confederation is in sight with their unification formulas sharing common ground in many aspects, President Kim Dae-jung said June 15.
He made the remarks in an arrival statement at Seoul Airport following a three-day visit to Pyongyang where he and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il produced a landmark five-point joint declaration.
“With our stance of a South-North confederation, calling for two systems and two governments left intact, the two sides agreed to solve all problems by creating all forms of negotiating bodies, including those between the chief executives, between Cabinet members and between parliamentarians,” Kim said.
The president stressed that North Korea’s unification formula, which advocates an immediate transition into a stage of one state and two systems, has markedly changed in the direction of the South’s confederation proposal.
“The North’s confederation proposal calls for the central government to take over the mandates on diplomacy and the military in an immediate manner. As this is unworkable, North Korea has recently revised it, opening the way for local governments to possess the mandates over diplomacy and military affairs,” he said. Under the new North Korean formula, the central government will virtually be a nominal one, he added.
During the summit, Kim said he urged the North Korean leader to produce concrete steps toward unification by eliminating old rhetoric, as seen in the July 4, 1972 Joint Communique.
“This will provide momentum for our efforts to find specific common ground and work out agreements in our history of unification movement,” he said.
During a briefing on the fourth article of the inter-Korean accord on economic cooperation, Kim announced a new dream for the Koreas, dubbed the “a new silk road of iron.”
Kim said the agreement envisions the linking of railway systems between the two Koreas and the subsequent creation of a railway system stretching from Japan to Europe via Korea.
“If the railroad is linked, transportation costs will be slashed by 30 percent. Then, we can reach Europe by railroad,” he said.
If the Koreas’ railways are reconnected, Japan would likely construct an undersea tunnel to connect its railway to the Korean lines, he said.
“We should pursue a win-win policy, which could be beneficial to both South and North Korea,” he said.
With regard to the exchange of separated family members, Kim said that a “considerable size of family reunions” will take place on the occasion of the National Liberation Day on Aug. 15.
“If North Korea takes a bold step by Aug. 15, I in turn promised to address the problem of long-serving North Korean prisoners through consultations with the people,” he said.
Beginning this month, the Red Cross channel between the two Koreas will enter into operation to discuss this matter, he said.
Kim said one of the most difficult parts in creating the inter-Korean accord was how to invite North Korean National Defense Commission Chairman Kim to Seoul.
“Finally, Chairman Kim agreed to visit Seoul within the agreed-upon time frame,” he said.
But he did not specify the exact date. President Kim said he had discussed a number of sensitive security issues with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, including the North’s missile and nuclear programs and the U.S. troops stationed in the South.
“There were talks on missile and nuclear programs, U.S. forces, and the National Security Law,” Kim said.
“The talks were very fruitful and some had good prospects,” he added.
In past talks North Korea repeatedly demanded that the Seoul government abolish its anti-Communist National Security Law and called for the withdrawal of the 37,000 U.S. soldiers from South Korea