Park willing to talk with NK leader

Rep. Park Geun-hye, the presidential candidate of the ruling Saenuri Party, said Monday that if elected, she was willing to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un without any conditions.

But Park stood firm against North Korea’s bellicose attacks on South Korea’s sovereignty and territory, such as crossing the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea.

Rep. Park Geun-hye

She said that provocation is “unacceptable” under any circumstances.

During a news conference to unveil her vision for foreign policy and North Korea at the party’s headquarters in Seoul, the presidential candidate noted that the time was ripe for Seoul to move forward.

Park pledged to end the decades-old dichotomy of engagement or hard-line policies, and to seek a balanced vision on North Korea.

“I will meet the North Korean leader if a summit is necessary to improve inter-Korean relations,” Park said.

Yun Byung-se, chief of her foreign policy team, said the candidate has no intention to add any conditions or steps that the North should take to hold the summit.

“But the candidate won’t be interested in holding talks with the North Korean leader just for the sake of talking,” he said during a background briefing.

Park also vowed to create an office for national security at Cheong Wa Dae to coordinate foreign policy.

She said the current National Security Council (NSC), established earlier to attain the same goal, has underperformed as a control tower.

She pointed her finger at division among foreign policy related Cabinet ministries with regard to reactions to the sinking of the warship Cheonan in March 2010 as evidence showing its ineffectiveness.

The presidential candidate pointed out inconsistency in Cabinet ministries’ reactions to a military pact aimed at sharing intelligence with Japan earlier this year as another example showing that the NSC is not working.

She proposed the establishment of offices for inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation, a body to function as a representative office for South and North Korea, in Pyongyang and Seoul, respectively, to build trust between the two countries.

“If elected, I will help the North upgrade its industrial infrastructure and affiliate with international financial institutions as these can help lay the groundwork for an economic community on the Korean Peninsula,” she said. “I will also help the North attract foreign investment and seek South Korean investment in the North’s Rajin-Sunbong economic special zone.”

North Korea is not a member of the International Monetary Fund or World Bank, two key global financial institutions offering loans and technical assistance to developing nations striving to achieve growth.

Park said no strings will be attached on humanitarian assistance to the North.

Under the proposed plan, Park vowed to “globalize” the inter-Korean joint venture of Gaeseong Industrial Complex, invest in the development of natural resources in the North and forest projects. <The Korea Times/Kang Hyun-kyung>