Opening Remarks by President Roh Moo-hyun at the Special Conference of the International Federation of Journalists
Please accept my congratulations on the opening of the Special Conference of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). I wholeheartedly welcome all the journalists who came here from 70 countries around the world.
I am deeply grateful to the IFJ and its members and pay tribute to you all for your endeavors to bring freedom, justice and peace to the international community.
Distinguished guests,
It is very meaningful that the theme of the first special conference of the IFJ is “Peace and Reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula.” The itinerary of the participants, including tours of Mt. Geumgang and Gaeseong City, is also deemed a considerate choice by the journalists here who want to gain an in-depth understanding of the situation surrounding the Peninsula.
It was customary in the past for international scholars and journalists to go to Panmunjeom, the last vestige of the Cold War and the division caused by Cold War rivalries, when they visited Korea. But this time, the participating journalists in the conference are scheduled to visit Mt. Geumgang and Gaeseong Industrial Complex, the two symbols of inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation. It can be said to be a sea change indeed compared with the past.
The nuclear test conducted by the North had only a slight impact on the Korean stock market and the country’s sovereign rating last October, proving our concerns were ill placed. The Korean people went about their business as usual and did not stock up on daily necessities. This is another vivid example of changes in inter-Korean relations.
The current Administration, dubbed the Participatory Government, has implemented policies toward North Korea based on flexibility and consistent principles in order to peacefully solve the North Korean nuclear issues, build trust and substantively develop relations between the North and the South.
Highlighted by the first-ever Inter-Korean General Officers Talks since the division of the peninsula, the number of inter-Korean talks increased to 119 during the first four years of the Participatory Government, compared with 83 during the entire five years of the previous Administration, which was called the Government of the People. Thirteen agreements that institutionally guarantee inter-Korean economic cooperation have come into effect, including the accords that protect investment and prevent dual taxation between the two Koreas.
Inter-Korean trade has more than doubled since the beginning of my Administration. More than 100,000 visitors traveled between two Koreas last year alone, even when excluding Mt. Geumgang tourists, whose cumulative number equaled nearly 1.4 million as of last year. Railroads linking the two Koreas, including the Seoul-Sinuiju route and a south-north track stretching along the east coast, will conduct pilot operation in the first half of this year.
The Gaeseong Industrial Complex, above all, is most symbolic of changing inter-Korean relations. There are currently about 11,000 workers from the North who are working alongside South Korean entrepreneurs, and their number will grow to approximately 70,000 once the first-phase construction is completed. What once used to be a key military strategic location has turned into the center stage for economic cooperation among Koreans.
Fellow participants,
The North Korean nuclear issue must be resolved peacefully, in order that inter-Korean relations will advance to a new height and peace will be settled on the peninsula. The armistice in Korea should also be converted into a peace regime. To take this a step further, an order of integration and cooperation has to be created in Northeast Asia.
Guided by this strategic idea, the Korean Government has approached the North Korean nuclear issue as a matter that has a bearing on the Korean Peninsula and on the broad contour of peace in Northeast Asia. This approach is derived from the Government’s blueprint that seeks to move beyond merely dismantling the nuclear program and take a step further toward a fundamental and structural solution to peace and security issues in Northeast Asia.
During the period leading up to the Joint Statement on September 19, 2005 at the Six-Party Talks in Beijing, the Korean Government held a summit with the United States, dispatched a special envoy to North Korea and made an important offer for assistance to the North in a consistent endeavor to persuade Pyongyang and Washington. Korea has continued extraordinary efforts to help bring about good results even while the multinational talks were deadlocked due to sanctions against Banco Delta Asia and the North’s test firing of missiles and a nuclear device. One good result was that Korea was able to agree with Washington on a “common and broad approach” in international relations.
It was fortunate that the Six-Party Talks produced a meaningful agreement on February 13 of this year. The accord contains provisions of a basic nature concerning denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, normalization of diplomatic ties between Pyongyang and Washington and between Pyongyang and Tokyo, construction of a peace system on the peninsula, and formation of a peace and security regime in Northeast Asia.
When the accord is carried out as agreed, the North Korean nuclear issue will be resolved and a new order of peace will be put in place in the region, replacing the Cold War structure for the first time in 60 years.
The Korean Government is fully committed to helping faithfully implement the February 13 accord. North Korea has started preliminary discussions with the United States and Japan for normalization of bilateral relations. South Korea will make its best effort to help make the discussions successful.
It is my belief that the Six-Party Talks in Beijing, based on its experience and competence in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue, should continue to remain operational and eventually evolve into a multilateral consultative body for peace and security cooperation in Northeast Asia. This consultative body should continue to function as a permanent multilateral security cooperation entity devoted to controlling armaments and mediating disputes in the region, which is susceptible to an arms race. Moreover, the security cooperation body may well develop into a consultative entity encompassing economic, diplomatic, environmental and other diverse issues.
When that happens and as the centripetal force for regional integration is solidified, the regional economy will progress even more rapidly; in the process, an enduring peace regime will be fully established on the centrally-located Korean Peninsula, which will constitute an important axle driving peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen,
The international press and global community will be expected to play important roles in helping Korea to bear fruition in its quest for a brighter future for Northeast Asia as well as the peninsula.
Situations can change greatly depending on what the press assumes and how it speaks. When the press concentrates on distrust and confrontation, crises will loom bigger but when it talks about peace and reconciliation, peace and reconciliation will move in.
Take the issues involving the Korean Peninsula as an example. We still vividly remember the many instances in the past when groundless assumptions of ceaseless confrontations and of imminent clashes between the two Koreas brought about anxiety and confusion on the Korean Peninsula and in the surrounding region. The free press should be allowed to make assumptions on their own, but security issues often concern the life and death of the Korean people. In this respect, I would like to urge you to take special caution when you report sensitive security matters.
I am convinced that this IFJ special conference will greatly contribute to bolstering reconciliation and cooperation on the Korean Peninsula as well as promoting peace and common prosperity in Northeast Asia. I would also like to take this opportunity to turn your attention to the fact that the Korean people are fully prepared as they bid to host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang and the 2012 World Expo in Yeosu. I hope you will have a rewarding time during your stay in Korea and wish every one of you success.
Thank you.
웹사이트: http://www.president.go.kr
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2008년 8월 6일 17:22
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