By Jacco Zwetsloot
There are several unknowns in the lead-up to the Moon-Kim summit, but one of them is what kind of relationship North Korea really wants to have with the South. This is closely related to the question of what Kim Jong-un really wants. What are his end goals? Is it simply to ensure the stability of his system, and to ensure that North Korea survives as a separate country? Or is it to seek some form of unification with the South, whether that takes the form of a confederation or something else?
These are top-level, big-picture issues. But it's important to also bear in mind things closer to the ground. For instance, it is important to take practical steps to build confidence and trust between the two Koreas. And perhaps these smaller steps can be indicative of Kim Jong-un's true attitudes and intentions, and might lead to bigger and better things.
Therefore, I recommend President Moon Jae-in propose to Chairman Kim Jong-un a postal exchange, to begin before the end of this summer. It is a little-known or -remembered fact that there was a regular inter-Korean mail service until the outbreak of the Korean War. Each month a train would take mail from Seoul Station up across the 38th parallel to Haeju in the North. As far as I know, it has never been tried again, nor did previous presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun speak publicly about wanting to negotiate such a service with Pyongyang.
So why try it now? Every year the number of people with relatives on the other side of the inter-Korean border dwindles. Separated families who remember a time before the Korean War are now in their 80s. Despite 18 rounds of divided family reunions, most still haven't had a chance to meet their long-lost spouses, siblings, children and so on. Due to the tremendous logistical and other costs of organizing reunions that look great on camera (but are so fleeting one might wonder if they cause more suffering than joy), it is unlikely enough rounds could ever be held to get all the separated families together. And that is assuming the current friendly atmosphere continues. This is why a postal exchange could be a low-key and logistically easy way to enable many Koreans from both sides of the DMZ to communicate.
Some would argue that Kim would want to censor any such correspondence. No problem _ Moon can surely agree to North Korea having censors and inspectors go through the letters with a black marker before they get through, just as with letters sent from prison (some might see an irony here but I won't go there.)
How can South Korea incentivize Kim Jong-un to agree to such a bold plan? Offer what North Korea wants: money. If South Korea offered to pay hard currency for every letter allowed across the border, that would be a start, but not the end of the matter. Paying Pyongyang just to deliver mail would be a sure recipe for non-delivery of said letters. That is why I suggest a schedule of payments: the minimum amount for sending a letter. A bonus for a letter received in return from family members in the North. A further bonus if that reply contains verifiably recent photographic evidence of proof of life. And so on and so on.
Please note I am not arguing against reunions of divided families, merely prioritizing something that can benefit more people in a lasting way over something that only a few can experience briefly.
A postal exchange would be a relatively simple and very humanitarian way to build trust and cooperation between people and institutions of the North and South. Much more so than reviving the Kaesong Industrial Complex, or tourism to Mt Kumgang. Also, as well as being a symbolic gesture, it might be indicative of NK's intentions. If Kim Jong-un flatly rejects letters being exchanged between members of divided families, then what hope is there for trust in bigger issues? But if he accepts, it opens the way to other potential measures. If the initial postal exchange between family members works, it can be expanded to include school pupils, with schools being matched to sister schools in the other Korea.
Going further, Haftlingsfreikauf could finally be tried here. This German word, meaning roughly "purchase of freedom for prisoners" was a process from the early 1960s until October 1989 in which over 30,000 East German political prisoners were in effect "sold" to West Germany for amounts of around 40,000 Deutschmarks per person. In this way, East Germany was able to rid itself of unwanted dissidents, lower the financial cost of housing prisoners and gain money to supplement its failing budgets. We already know South Korea does not want to see an economic collapse of North Korea because of the instability it might cause; here is a way to avoid that, while also doing something humanitarian.
Has South Korea ever offered a postal exchange in return for cash, or to buy some of North Korea's political prisoners? Not that I know of. Yes, my suggestion would carry with it a whole new set of challenges and issues. But it's worth asking for it, and it's worth doing so publicly, so we can gauge Kim's sincerity when he says he wants improved relations with South Korea, and the suffering of division to cease.
Jacco Zwetsloot is Director of Business Innovation at Korean law firm HMP Law, and also host of the weekly NK News Podcast about North Korea.
There are several unknowns in the lead-up to the Moon-Kim summit, but one of them is what kind of relationship North Korea really wants to have with the South. This is closely related to the question of what Kim Jong-un really wants. What are his end goals? Is it simply to ensure the stability of his system, and to ensure that North Korea survives as a separate country? Or is it to seek some form of unification with the South, whether that takes the form of a confederation or something else?
These are top-level, big-picture issues. But it's important to also bear in mind things closer to the ground. For instance, it is important to take practical steps to build confidence and trust between the two Koreas. And perhaps these smaller steps can be indicative of Kim Jong-un's true attitudes and intentions, and might lead to bigger and better things.
Therefore, I recommend President Moon Jae-in propose to Chairman Kim Jong-un a postal exchange, to begin before the end of this summer. It is a little-known or -remembered fact that there was a regular inter-Korean mail service until the outbreak of the Korean War. Each month a train would take mail from Seoul Station up across the 38th parallel to Haeju in the North. As far as I know, it has never been tried again, nor did previous presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun speak publicly about wanting to negotiate such a service with Pyongyang.
So why try it now? Every year the number of people with relatives on the other side of the inter-Korean border dwindles. Separated families who remember a time before the Korean War are now in their 80s. Despite 18 rounds of divided family reunions, most still haven't had a chance to meet their long-lost spouses, siblings, children and so on. Due to the tremendous logistical and other costs of organizing reunions that look great on camera (but are so fleeting one might wonder if they cause more suffering than joy), it is unlikely enough rounds could ever be held to get all the separated families together. And that is assuming the current friendly atmosphere continues. This is why a postal exchange could be a low-key and logistically easy way to enable many Koreans from both sides of the DMZ to communicate.
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Some would argue that Kim would want to censor any such correspondence. No problem _ Moon can surely agree to North Korea having censors and inspectors go through the letters with a black marker before they get through, just as with letters sent from prison (some might see an irony here but I won't go there.)
How can South Korea incentivize Kim Jong-un to agree to such a bold plan? Offer what North Korea wants: money. If South Korea offered to pay hard currency for every letter allowed across the border, that would be a start, but not the end of the matter. Paying Pyongyang just to deliver mail would be a sure recipe for non-delivery of said letters. That is why I suggest a schedule of payments: the minimum amount for sending a letter. A bonus for a letter received in return from family members in the North. A further bonus if that reply contains verifiably recent photographic evidence of proof of life. And so on and so on.
Please note I am not arguing against reunions of divided families, merely prioritizing something that can benefit more people in a lasting way over something that only a few can experience briefly.
A postal exchange would be a relatively simple and very humanitarian way to build trust and cooperation between people and institutions of the North and South. Much more so than reviving the Kaesong Industrial Complex, or tourism to Mt Kumgang. Also, as well as being a symbolic gesture, it might be indicative of NK's intentions. If Kim Jong-un flatly rejects letters being exchanged between members of divided families, then what hope is there for trust in bigger issues? But if he accepts, it opens the way to other potential measures. If the initial postal exchange between family members works, it can be expanded to include school pupils, with schools being matched to sister schools in the other Korea.
Going further, Haftlingsfreikauf could finally be tried here. This German word, meaning roughly "purchase of freedom for prisoners" was a process from the early 1960s until October 1989 in which over 30,000 East German political prisoners were in effect "sold" to West Germany for amounts of around 40,000 Deutschmarks per person. In this way, East Germany was able to rid itself of unwanted dissidents, lower the financial cost of housing prisoners and gain money to supplement its failing budgets. We already know South Korea does not want to see an economic collapse of North Korea because of the instability it might cause; here is a way to avoid that, while also doing something humanitarian.
Has South Korea ever offered a postal exchange in return for cash, or to buy some of North Korea's political prisoners? Not that I know of. Yes, my suggestion would carry with it a whole new set of challenges and issues. But it's worth asking for it, and it's worth doing so publicly, so we can gauge Kim's sincerity when he says he wants improved relations with South Korea, and the suffering of division to cease.
Jacco Zwetsloot is Director of Business Innovation at Korean law firm HMP Law, and also host of the weekly NK News Podcast about North Korea.
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