Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Alliance With Outsiders or Cooperation With Compatriots
Pyongyang Times

Dependence on foreign forces is a main obstacle to independent reunification and inter-Korean cooperation is the way to peace and prosperity.

The chequered history of inter-Korean relations teaches the lesson that persistence in reliance on and servility to foreign forces makes it impossible to achieve the cause of independent reunification but incurs disaster.

As the successive south Korean conservative regimes clung to subservient and blind alliance with outsiders, a vicious cycle of mistrust and confrontation was repeated and serious obstacles stood in the way of peace and stability in the Korean peninsula.

The conservative authorities steeped in dependence on outside forces were hell-bent on confrontation with the fellow countrymen in league with foreign forces, while turning away from the north’s compatriotic stand and initiatives for resolving the national issue of reunification by the untied efforts of the nationals.

Alliance with outsiders have brought the nation only misfortune and suffering.

Crying for cooperation with outsiders, Lee Myung Bak banned the tour of Mt Kumgang, which had been realized thanks to the June 15 2000 inter-Korean summit, on the pretext of a “tourist incident” and fabricated the sunken Cheonan incident to come out with the “May 24 measures”, totally blocking visit and exchange between the north and south, a grave challenge to national unity. His “no nukes, opening and 3 000 dollars” and Park Geun Hye’s “Dresden declaration” and “trust-building process” were all confrontational policies conceived to harm the fellow countrymen through anti-DPRK cooperation with outside forces that clamoured for the “settlement of the north’s nuclear issue”.

The conservative clans set confrontation with the fellow countrymen as their policy and brought the dark cloud of nuclear war to the Korean peninsula in collusion with foreign forces, with the result that the security of the nation was at risk.

It is natural that Park Geun Hye, a wicked confrontation maniac who had pursued unconditional subservience to outside forces, was given a stern punishment in March by the locals who turned out in massive candlelit rallies.

The reality demands that whoever truly cares about the destiny of the nation and wishes for reunification should work for inter-Korean cooperation.

It is the truth proved by history that inter-Korean cooperation brings about peace and prosperity.

In the June 15 era of By Our Nation Itself the north and south opened by pooling minds and efforts, bilateral exchanges were briskly conducted in the domains of politics, economy and culture and the air, overland and sea routes which had been closed for half a century were opened. Northern and southern players jointly entered the venue of international sports events flying One Korea flag to demonstrate the might of a reunified Korean nation.

Separated families and relatives, who had not heard from each other for decades, held heart-warming reunions and the Koreans in the north and south experienced reunification in Pyongyang and Seoul as they had candid talks with each other.

The June 15 era full of eye-opening events left an indelible impression on the nationals.

That is why the southerners from all social strata are raising voices for improved inter-Korean relations.

The South Committee for the Implementation of the June 15 Joint Declaration has recently conducted signature campaigns in different areas and issued a “3 000 women’s peace declaration” to assert that the north and south should open an era of reconciliation and cooperation for reunification at any cost. In December last year senior public figures set it as one of the ten tasks for redressing south Korean politics to normalize relations by specifying in the constitution that peaceful reunification is a fixed policy for peace, withdrawing the “May 24 measures” and resuming the operation of the Kaesong Industrial Park.

The reality shows that inter-Korean cooperation is the aspiration of the Koreans and the demand of the times.

By Choe Yong Nam PT

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