Rebuilding Inter-Korean Relations: Prospects for an Inter-Korean Summit in the post-Chonan Incident Era

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

After the sinking of the ROK Navy corvette Chonan on March 26, 2010, the situation on the Korean Peninsula has rapidly deteriorated, prospects for the Six‐Party Talks are also very negative. Today, for inter‐Korean relations to resume, a whole new framework is needed given the nullification of all existing North‐South agreements. Such a renewed relationship can only be achieved through a third inter‐Korean summit. Moreover, progress on the North Korean nuclear issue is impossible until the current state of North‐South relations is improved. In the end, the only solution is an inter‐Korean summit, which could bring a breakthrough in both North‐South relations and the nuclear issue at the same time. An agreement to resume Six‐Party Talks without any precondition would be the minimum contribution of any inter‐Korean summit. If North Korea were to declare a moratorium on nuclear testing as a result of an inter‐Korean summit, that would also significantly contribute to DPRK denuclearization. Such actions do not have to be agreed upon within the Six‐Party Talks because they could be unilateral decisions made by Pyongyang. Another minimum achievement would be to secure North Korea’s commitment to denuclearization in Kim Jong‐Il's own words and then to insert those comments into a joint statement at the end of the summit. The Obama and Lee administrations must closely cooperate to achieve such objectives in an inter‐Korean summit. The two administrations have already declared a common “comprehensive” approach to the North Korean nuclear issue. Feasible achievements in an inter‐Korean summit can serve as elements of this “comprehensive package.”

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