The Korean Peninsula - International Conference

TNI

November 2005

The Korean Peninsula, often portrayed as one of the last remaining Cold War stand-offs, remains the focal point of a delicate and unstable region: Northeast Asia. Reconciliation between North Korea (DPRK) and South Korea (ROK) is of the highest importance not only to the Korean people but to the region as a whole and to the prospects for world peace. Because of the complexity of the situation on the Peninsula, involving multiple factors and actors, national as well as international, governmental and non-governmental, special attention has to be given to the process of normalization of relations between North and South Korea.

This issue of ASEM Watch reports on the outcome of the International Conference on Korean Reconciliation and Reunification for Global Peace, held August 13 - 14 2001, in Seoul, (ROK). A review of the Conference and the Conference Declaration, signed by the participants to this historic Conference, are highlighted.

Because of the significance of the Conference, TNI published a book on the subject: "Melting the Iceberg; Ending the Cold War in the Korean Peninsula & The Search for Global Peace". More information on the book is included in this issue of ASEM Watch.

Finally, we conclude with optimistic news in relation to the Korean process of reconciliation: press reports on the visit of over 300 South Korean civil society representatives to Pyongyang to join the North Korean Liberation Day Festivities on August 15 2001.

New Publication

Melting the Iceberg: Ending the Cold War in the Korean Peninsula & The Search for Global Peace

Edited by TNI Fellow Brid Brennan
TNI in cooperation with Focus on the Global South
Amsterdam, August 2001 (112pp)

Contents
Melting the Iceberg is the fifth publication in a series on Asian - European relations. The book, explores the interconnections between Korean Reconciliation and Reunification and global peace.
Melting the Iceberg explores some common themes and concerns in the evolving agendas of peace movements in Asia and Europe in order to stimulate a re-thinking on the 'globalisation of solidarity'

About the articles

The Real Threat
Walden Bello assesses the impact of the Kim Dae Jung - Kim Jong Il direct and independent diplomacy. Bello argues that the erosion of the necessity and legitimacy of the US military complex in Asia might be the biggest contribution to regional security which began with began with the Korean independent peace process in June 2000.

The Global Significance of Korea's Cold War Division System & The International Movement for Reconciliation
Thomas E. Reifer provides a comprehensive introduction to the roots and significance of Korea's Cold War Division System, drawing parallels with the division experienced by Europe following World War 2.

Options in Northeast Asia: Missile Defence or a Nuclear Weapon Free Zone
Lee Samsung analyses the new threat to peace posed by the US Missile Defence programme and the escalation of militarisation in the region. He concludes that the establishment of a Northeast Asian Nuclear Weapon Free Zone as the only viable counter-strategy to these fresh threats.

Theatre Missile Defence in Europe: Process by Stealth
Martin Broek and Frank Slijper expose the reality of Missile Defence programmes in Europe. They dismiss the distinction between Theatre and National Missile defence and emphasise that these far-reaching military developments have not yet entered Europe's parliamentary or civil society debate.

There is no need for the EU to play 'little America'
J.P. Feddema develops further the need to address the lack of the public perception and debate in Europe on the subject of the deployment of Missile Defence.

Up in Arms: Europe's arming of South Korea and its Implications for Peace in East Asia
Jenny Franco and Martin Broek reveal the links between European Arms manufacturers and South Korea's expanding military. They explore the issues behind the increase in trade, where between 1995 and 1999 European manufacturers and governments supplied 14% of South Korea's overall arms acquisitions.

Korea's Arms Industry: Corruption Exposes the Myth
Lee Tae Ho places South Korea's own arms Industry under sharp scrutiny as he chronicles the efforts made by civil society and Parliament to unearth the magnitude of corruption within the military industry complex.

Who is Up in Arms?
Wilbert van der Zeijden undertakes a comparative analysis of military expenditure - examining the US, EU and the Northeast Asian region. He offers several alternative methods of analysis and finds trends in military expenditures that belie the Peace dividend promised following the Fall of the Berlin Wall.

To order the book:
e-mail: Pietje Vervest
Price: DFL 25 or USD 10

Korean Liberation Day Press Material

ROK-DPRK Joint Celebration

The Associated Press (Jae-Suk Yoo, "S. KOREANS AVOID N. KOREA CEREMONY," Seoul, 08/16/01) reported that the ROK delegation of religious, labor, and civic activists to a joint celebration in the DPRK of the anniversary of liberation from Japan refused to attend the closing ceremony on Thursday at the "Monument to Three Chapters for National Unification." Sixty of the 311 ROK delegates attended a party at the monument after the closing ceremony, however. A third of the delegates also defied the ROK government and visited the monument for the opening ceremony on Wednesday. The four leaders of the ROK delegation had pledged not to visit any communist monuments in Pyongyang, while other delegates did not sign such a promise.

Source: Nautilus Institute,
www.nautilus.org/napsnet/dr/0108/AUG16.html#item2

Korean Independence Day

The Korea Herald (Kim Ji-ho, "US Missile Defense Could Complicate Talks with Pyongyang: US Senator," Pyongyang, 08/016/01) reported that a group of ROK citizens joined DPRK citizens in Pyongyang to begin celebrations of the peninsula's liberation from Japanese colonial rule 56 years ago. The 337 ROK citizens, members of civic and religious groups, will stay in the DPRK capital for a week. They compose the largest ROK delegation ever to visit the DPRK. Government officials in Seoul hope that the joint celebrations will help to end a months-long hiatus in official contacts between the two Korean governments. After joining the festivities in Pyongyang, the delegation is scheduled to visit Mt. Myohyang and Mt. Baekdu August 17-21.

Joongang Ilbo ("Kim Jong-Il to Celebrate Liberation Day in Train," Seoul, 08/14/01) reported that the DPRK would celebrate the 56th anniversary of Korea's National Liberation Day without their leader for the first time. Russia's ITAR-Tass news agency reported Tuesday that Chairman Kim Jong-il's special train will pass Habarobsk region on August 15, and thus would have its own private celebration on the railway.

Source: Nautilus Institute,
www.nautilus.org/napsnet/dr/0108/AUG16.html#item12

Inter-Korean Independence Day Celebration

The Korea Herald (Kim Ji-ho, "IideologicalDisputes Continue to Mars-N Liberation Event," Pyongyang, 08/017/01) reported that disputes intensified among ROK civic delegates to the inter-Korean independence day celebration on Thursday. The conflict within the delegation was fueled by the DPRK demand that the visitors attend a ceremony at a politically sensitive location. Some of the 337-member ROK delegation insisted that they join the closing event of the Liberation Day celebration to be held later in the day at a monument symbolizing the DPRK's unification policy. ROK officials said that they believe that the defiant delegates violated the National Security Law, which bans ROK citizens from engaging in activities with the DPRK for which they do not have previous approval. "We will closely review their activities and take proper actions if necessary," a Unification Ministry official said.

Source: Nautilus Institute,
http://www.nautilus.org/napsnet/dr/0108/AUG17.html#item5