Why was North Korea so quick to agree to family reunions?
| Seoul, South Korea
South and North Korea agreed to allow reunions next week of nearly 100 families divided by the Korean War in聽a breakthrough agreement that appeared to signal Pyongyang's deepened interest in easing tensions on the peninsula.聽
North Korea surprised South Korean negotiators Friday by completely dropping its demand that the United States and the South cancel military exercises set to begin during the reunions.
The North, analysts say, may be prioritizing smoother relations with its southern neighbor while it grapples with internal problems after the execution of long-time regent-mentor Jang Song-thaek and the purge of hundreds of his followers.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un 鈥渋s strengthening his power base,鈥� says聽Kim Tae-woo, a defense expert at Dongguk University here.聽鈥淭hat鈥檚 why they tried hard to get results from these talks.鈥澛�
Coming on the second day of high-level talks, requested by North Korea, the deal will allow 84 North Koreans and 85 South Koreans to begin five days of meetings on Feb. 20 at the base of Mount Kumkang, just above the North-South line near the east coast.
The eagerness of North Korean officials to meet at聽the truce village of Panmunjom, and willingness to drop their requirement for at least a delay of the war games after 13 hours of talks on Tuesday, became obvious when the South Korean team arrived on Friday. They discovered that the entire North Korean team had remained on the North Korean side of the line for two nights while waiting to sign off on the deal.
鈥淭he agreement today came very fast,鈥� said an official at South Korea鈥檚 unification ministry. 鈥淭he atmosphere was very cooperative.鈥�
South Korea鈥檚 chief negotiator, Kim Kyou-hyun, characterized the deal as 鈥渕eaningful鈥� and 鈥渁 first step toward development of inter-Korean relations based on confidence." He predicted the two Koreas would 鈥渃ontinue to build confidence through dialogue in the future."
No more slander?
North Korea did extract one dividend from the talks. The two sides, in a joint statement, 鈥渁greed to refrain from slandering each other in order to promote mutual understanding and trust.鈥�
That statement 鈥渋s tricky,鈥� observes Kim Tae-woo. 鈥淒o you think North Korea will stop recriminations?鈥� he asks rhetorically. 鈥淭he whole South Korean population is exposed to psychological warfare.鈥�
Although the joint statement does not specifically say so, North Korean negotiators complained about critical editorials in the South Korean media. North Korea has also protested against South Koreans鈥� firing off 聽large balloons that fly over North Korea, dropping propaganda leaflets along with candy bars and US dollar bills.
Ha Tae-keung, a South Korean national assembly member who previously ran Open Radio North Korea, which broadcasts news and propaganda into the North, believes North Korea is also anxious for the South to stop such broadcasts.
鈥淭he first thing the North wants is no radio,鈥� says Mr. Ha, now a member of the South Korean national assembly from the ruling party of the South鈥檚 conservative president, Park Geun-hye.聽
Whether the South will crack down on such broadcasts, though, is not clear.
'A new phase'
Regardless of such details, the speed with which the North Korean news agency released the joint statement was almost as surprising as the agreement itself. KCNA prefaced the statement with the extraordinary comment, 鈥淏oth sides confirmed the will to open a new phase of national unity, peace, prosperity and independent reunification by improving the inter-Korean relations鈥�.鈥�
The agreement, moreover, carries the specific promise of more such talks in the near future. The two sides, it said, would 鈥渃ontinue discussing the issues of mutual concern and make positive efforts to develop the inter-Korean relations鈥� and had 鈥渁greed to hold a high-level contact at date convenient to both sides.鈥�
The agreement, however, gave no hint as to the possibility of talks on North Korea鈥檚 nuclear program.
North Korea in the talks on Tuesday said the nuclear issue could not enter into the discussion. The North has said many times that it will not abandon the program, which it claims to need for defense against the South.
Still, says Ha, while North and South are talking, 鈥淣orth Korea is not going to wage a military attack鈥� similar to those in the Yellow Sea in 2010 in which 50 South Koreans were killed in the sinking of a navy ship and the shelling of an island.
Instead, a unification ministry explained, 鈥淲e will continue trust-building鈥� 鈥� all in keeping with President Park鈥檚 policy of 鈥渢rustpolitik.鈥澛�
