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Critics, especially the opposition Grand National Party, are skeptical that the summit will yield more than fresh demands from the North for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the South and for additional aid. They have criticized Roh's intentions in holding the summit, saying he hopes only to win support for his Uri Party ahead of presidential elections in December.
History shows that progress toward reconciliation will not be easily achieved.
It has been 62 years since the United States and the former Soviet Union selected the 38th parallel as the dividing line between North and South Korea after World War II. This has never been a simple geographical line. It has been a symbol of separation, not only between North and South, but also between the Eastern bloc, headed by the former Soviet Union, and the Western bloc, headed by the United States.
Like a weather-beaten old man, the line has endured many ordeals. It witnessed the Japanese surrender to Allied troops at the end of World War II. It experienced the Korean War in which Chinese fought alongside the North Koreans while U.N. forces, led by U.S. troops, backed the South Koreans. Since then, the wire wall has kept families and friends apart, blocking all access from one part of the peninsula to the other.
History never stops, and great changes have taken place around the world while the barren stretch of land between the two Koreas lies virtually untouched. The Cold War is over in most parts of the globe; the Berlin Wall has come down; the giant Soviet Union has disintegrated; globalization has brought together formerly unconnected parts of the world. Modern advanced technology has created a real global village; people are free to travel and communicate and global financial markets allow funds to move freely. Also, regional cooperation has produced the European Union, the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the African Union. All of these point to the reality of an expanding global village.
However, none of this progress is apparent at the Demilitarized Zone that separates North and South Korea. Here the fences are as solid as ever, soldiers on both sides are alert and cautious, warning shots ring out from time to time along the boundary line. A tunnel discovered in 1978, built by North Koreans to infiltrate the South, and the Dora Observatory built in the South in 1986 as an observation post near the border, still remain as symbols of antagonism. The Panmunjeom truce village stands deserted, a reminder that reconciliation is a long way off.
North Korea remains a closed, secretive state, with no political freedoms and a personality cult surrounding its leader. Progress in industry and agriculture has ground to a halt. People lack food and daily commodities; reports of people starving to death still find their way across the borders.
In June 2000, leaders of the two Koreas met for the first time since the war. Former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il met in Pyongyang. This first summit -- a result of the South's "sunshine policy" aimed at opening up contacts with the North -- produced a Nobel Peace Prize for Kim. It did not bring a peace agreement to the peninsula, however.
In October the same year U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright made a groundbreaking visit to Pyongyang in an effort to get North Korea to end its missile program. Nearly seven years later, the United States is still negotiating with the North over its weapons programs, though now the stakes have been raised from missiles to nuclear weapons.
On May 17th this year, the Kyunghui railway line, defunct since it was severed during the Korean War, crossed the line between the two Koreas. However, this turned out to be a one-time event, more symbolic than real, like so many of the steps toward reconciliation that have been initiated in the past.
Despite great pressure from the international community, Pyongyang shows little intention of abandoning its nuclear programs. It delights in showing off its "advanced arms" at military parades on patriotic occasions.
Even if both sides shared a will to reunite, the way would not be easy. There is a huge economic gap and great disparities in ideological and social systems between North and South. A shared language and cultural background are not enough to completely offset these differences, as the experience of North Koreans who make their way to the South has shown. Most of them have great difficulty adjusting to the fast-paced and independent lifestyle of South Koreans.
The upcoming summit may extend the period of détente between the two Koreas, but it is unlikely to be more than a small step toward true reconciliation.
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(Zhang Quanyi is an associate professor at the Zhejiang Wanli University in Ningbo, China, and a PhD candidate at Shanghai International Studies University, studying policy making and collective identity. He is currently a research fellow at the School of International Studies at Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea, under a grant by the Korea Foundation. He can be contacted at qyzhangupi@yahoo.com. ©Copyright Zhang Quanyi.)
