Recent Developments on the Korean Peninsula

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Recent Developments on the Korean Peninsula
20 November 2007
St. Antonys JCR Ambassadorial Seminar Dr Cho,
Yoon-Je Ambassador of the Republic of Korea
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Contents

• Brief History of the Korean Peninsula
• Different Paths Followed by the Two Koreas
• Recent Developments in Inter-Korean Relations
• North Korean Nuclear Issue
• Future of the Korean Peninsula

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Brief History of Korea a country with
five-thousand years of history

• Kingdom of Gojoseon(National Foundation in BC
  2333)
• BC18 AD676 Three Kingdoms
• 676 918 Kingdom of Silla the
  first unified dynasty
• 918 1392 Goryeo Dynasty
• 1392 1910 Joseon Dynasty
• 1910 1945 Japanese occupation
• 1945 Division of Korea into South and
  North
• 1950 1953 Korean War
• South Korea 1 million civilians / 630
  thousand soldiers
• North Korea 1.5 million civilians /
  800 thousand soldiers
• 1953 Technically still at war, the
  worlds most militarily congested area

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Different Paths Followed by the Two Koreas Since
1945
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North Korea

• Communist system
• The world most isolated regime economic
  backwardness
• Dictatorship and human rights issues
• Nuclear development military-first policy

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South Korea
One of the most successful postwar economic and
political development cases

• 12th largest economy (member of OECD)
• 12th largest trading country
• 11th in global competitiveness (WEF 2007)
• 1st in university enrollment
• 1st in broadband penetration (90 of households)
• Fully democratized political system

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South Koreas International Competitiveness
Major Exports (2006, US billion)
43.2
37.0
200518.9
24.1
22.1
18.6
14.6
Automobile
Semi-
Cell phone
Ship-building
Home Appliances
Steel
Petro-chemical
conductor
Ranking
Market share
D-RAM 1st (49.4), TFT-LCD 1st (42)
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Night Image of the Two Koreas After Five Decades
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South Koreas Contribution to Peace and Stability

• Increasing development assistance
• Expanding UN peace keeping operations

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• Recent Developments in
• Inter-Korean Relations

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South Koreas Policy Towards North Korea

• From confrontation to reconciliation
• Engagement policy of North Korea during the last
  decade
• dialogue and cooperation
• confidence building
• peaceful coexistence
• prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and
  Northeast Asia
• Peaceful and gradual process of unification

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Inter-Korean Relations

• Humanitarian assistance
• South Korea is the biggest donor county to
  the North
• Peoples exchanges
• In 2005, 88,000 South Koreans visited the
  North
• (more than the total number of visitors
  during the previous
• five decades)
• 1.5m South Korean tourists to Mt. Geumgang
  since 1998

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• Economic cooperation
• Inter-Korean trade volume 1.35 billion US
  dollars
• (South Korea has become the 2nd largest
  trading partner of the North
• within a decade)
• North Koreas Trade Volume 4 billion US
  dollars
• Gaeseong Industrial Complex a collaborative
  project

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Inter-Korean Summit Meetings(2000 and 2007)

• Major results of the 2007 Summit
• (peace building)
• cooperation on denuclearization and
  establishment of a peace regime
• reduction of military tension and the
  holding of a defense ministers
• meeting
• holding Prime Ministers meeting
• (economic cooperation)
• creating a Special Peace and Cooperation
  Zone in the West Sea
• constructing ship-building complexes and
  repairing roads
• expanding Gaeseong Industrial Complex
• (reconciliation)
• expanding the reunion of separated families
• promoting exchanges and cooperation in
  social and cultural areas

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North Korean Nuclear Issue

• 6 Party talks Two Koreas, US, Japan, China,
  Russia
• Progress
• (North Koreas action to be taken by the end
  of 2007)
• disable key nuclear facilities
• provide a complete and correct declaration
  of all its nuclear programs
• (other Six Partys action)
• economic and energy assistance up to the
  equivalent of 1 million tons of
• heavy fuel oil
• discuss normalization of US-North Korea
  relations, Japan-North Korea
• relations

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North Korean Nuclear Issue

• (future course of action)
• hold a Six Party Ministerial Meeting
• dismantle North Koreas nuclear facilities
• Long-term Goals
• to establish a permanent peace regime on
  the Korean Peninsula
• to develop a multilateral security forum
  in Northeast Asia

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Mutually Reinforcing Mechanisms
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Future of the Korean Peninsula

• Korean Peninsula core element for peace and
  stability of Northeast Asia
• Unified Korea a liberal democratic country with
  an open economy
• Greater role for world peace and prosperity

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Thank you