The assumption that Kim Dae-jung's North Korea policy does not respect this fundamental diplomatic principle is the common denominator of most critics who reject his Sunshine Policy. They accuse the South Korean president of being too generous in dealing with the North, of making too many concessions and not getting back enough from the other side. It is noteworthy that Kim's critics in South Korea and the US use the same argument.
"One-sided concessions to North Korea have sustained Kim Jong-il's repressive regime at no political cost to him," says a report published by the Heritage Foundation. The report calls for a policy of disciplined reciprocity.
These days the editorials of influential South Korean newspapers are filled with criticism, lamenting with sharp words that the South has allegedly received little in return for its aid to the North, that the South Korean government is being dragged around by the communist regime, yes, that Seoul is supposedly kowtowing to Pyongyang.
This critical posture is shared by a large segment of the South Korean population: opinion polls indicate, public support for Kim Dae-jung's Sunshine Policy has declined significantly since the historic summit meeting in Pyongyang last June. According to one such survey, some 55 percent of South Koreans are worried about what is termed "reckless assistance to the North." The reason the government's North Korea policy is drawing criticism is not so much because of the scale of its aid for the North as the fact that the aid is being given unilaterally, regardless of whether the North responds in kind (or not).
Ronald Meinardus is the resident representative in Seoul of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation
RSS