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| President-elect Moon Jae-in has pledged to resume dialogue for peace with North Korea, but it would be done only when certain conditions are met. / Korea Times file |
By Lee Han-soo
President-elect Moon Jae-in has pledged to resume dialogue for peace with North Korea, but it would be done only when a condition is met: no more military provocations such as nuclear or missile tests.
"If North Korea carries out a sixth nuclear test, cross-border dialogue will be impossible for a time, and given the single, five-year term, it will effectively be difficult to improve inter-Korean ties under the next administration," Moon said during a televised debate on April 27.
He has repeatedly called for a more "open and humanitarian" approach to the isolated country, unlike his two previous conservative predecessors -- Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak -- who pressed the North to abandon its nuclear program through sanctions and other punitive measures. Moon firmly believes that multinational diplomatic efforts will bring an end to the long-running crisis on the Korean Peninsula without military conflict.
"I am confident to lead the diplomatic efforts involving multiple parties, which will lead to the complete abandonment of the North Korean nuclear program, and bring the relationship between South and North to peace, economic cooperation and mutual prosperity," Moon said on April 25.
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Moon's stance is widely seen as a return to the "Sunshine Policy," a dialogue-centered North Korea policy initiated by late former President Kim Dae-jung, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000 for hosting a historic summit with then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. The policy remained in place during the 2003-08 presidency of Roh Moo-hyun, Kim's successor, but it was scrapped after conservative President Lee Myung-bak was sworn in.
While conservatives say a revived Sunshine Policy would only help the North build up a nuclear arsenal, Moon believes it would pave the way for peace on the peninsula.
During the campaign, Moon laid out a multi-layered approach to North Korea by expanding defensive military programs against its missile threat. But he also suggested signing a peace treaty with the North that would be put on the table only when the nuclear crisis is resolved and inter-Korean economic cooperation resumes without the risk of abrupt suspension.
In line with this, Moon said he would reopen the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, a signature economic project of the Sunshine Policy, which former President Park Geun-hye closed on Feb. 10, 2016, amid inter-Korean tensions.
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