At the same time, the only mention of the North Korean nuclear problem in the declaration is that both sides will cooperate so that the Sept. 19, 2005 statement of principles and the Feb. 13 agreement from this year can be implemented smoothly to resolve the nuclear problem on the Korean Peninsula. There is no phrase that even mentions the dismantling of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. It makes one wonder whether any meaningful discussion even took place between the two leaders over the matter. The nuclear threat looms over us like a dark cloud; if the two leaders of the Korean Peninsula glaze over it with half-hearted words like that, then who exactly is in charge here? That’s why the establishment of a “permanent peace regime” as stipulated in the declaration sounds so hollow.

Yet the two leaders did not forget to include the pursuit of a four-way summit including the leaders of the United States and China. The South Korean president and the North Korean leader must surely know it is nonsense to even bring up such a meeting before North Korea scraps its nuclear program. A U.S. State Department spokesman turned down this proposal a month ago, saying Washington had absolutely no expectations of such a meeting. Yet the fact that this was adamantly included in the declaration was due to the political impact it would have on South Korea.

The declaration stipulates that a joint fishing area is designated in the West Sea and that the defense ministers of the two Koreas will meet to discuss the problems that lie in creating a maritime peace zone in this area. There is a high possibility that allowing free passage to North Korean vessels as a result of the joint fishing area and the maritime peace zone will effectively invalidate the Northern Limit Line. Now the location of the joint fishing area will become a point of contention. But no matter what the circumstances are, this could threaten the lives of the residents of Ongjin County and serve as the first step in North Korea’s efforts to push the NLL further south.

The declaration stipulates that the South and the North “have agreed to overhaul their respective legislative and institutional frameworks in a bid to develop inter-Korean relations in a reunification-oriented direction.” There is a high probability that the ruling powers of the two Koreas will jointly use this clause as leverage to push for the abolition of the National Security Law.

The regulations of North Korea’s Workers’ Party set the “communization” of South Korea as its goal. There are various other regulations in South Korea that fall under the National Security Law. But the laws and regulations of North Korea’s Workers’ Party are always alterable according to the will of the North Korean leader, so even the scrapping of both South Korea’s National Security Law and North Korea’s Workers’ Party regulations could lead to only the South losing the means of defending its system of freedom and democracy.

The South and the North have also agreed “not to interfere in the internal affairs of the other.” From now on, North Korea will use this clause to block any attempt to raise the matter of human rights abuses there. South Korean progressives, who have been ignoring the misery suffered by the North Korean people, have gained a valuable source of support. Judging by the fact that there was no mention of South Korean POWs and others who have been kidnapped by North Korea since the Korean War, it appears this clause will excuse any acts committed by the communist country retroactively.

It makes one breathless just reading the long list of economic aid promised by South Korea in the declaration. It includes the construction of a special economic zone in Haeju, repairing the Kaesong-Shinuiju railroad and the Kaesong-Pyongyang Expressway, establishing cooperative complexes for shipbuilding in Anbyeon and Nampo, tours to Mt. Baekdu, cooperative projects in various areas such as agriculture, health and medical services and environmental protection, as well as support after natural disasters. Each project requires vast sums of money. Repairs of Kaesong-Shinuiju railroad and the Kaesong-Pyongyang Expressway alone are expected to cost South Korea around W700 billion (US$1=W916). But many experts say the bill could rise to W1 trillion once the projects get started.

The list also makes one realize exactly what Roh meant when he said in June that a promissory note he issues must be settled by his successor. At this point, when he has just five months left in office and a president-elect will emerge in two months, Roh has promised North Korea a very expensive gift.

The opening of nonstop flight services between Seoul and Mt. Baekdu, launching freight train services on the Munsan~Bongdong route, a joint cheering squad from both sides to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games using the Gyeongui Railway Line, as well as the regular reunions of separated family members and their relatives are visible signs of progress. But these agreements are either old ones that North Korea has failed to implement or may end up as one-off events.

The clause that stipulates that the two countries’ leaders “will meet frequently for the advancement of relations between the two sides” has been criticized for having freed the North Korean leader from his promise of paying a return visit to South Korea. According to the declaration, a prime ministers’ meeting will be held in Seoul in November and defense ministerial talks will take place in Pyongyang at that time as well. November is just one month before the South Korean presidential elections and when candidates are in the middle of campaigning across the country. It is at this time that the crucial inter-Korean meetings will take place. This is apparently expected to aid the ruling camp’s presidential candidate.

There have been many declarations and agreements between the two Koreas. Among them is the 1992 Basic Accord, which was a joint declaration to rid the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons. The agreement was a virtual “constitutional law” in terms of inter-Korean relations. After surviving the crisis of the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, North Korea conveniently threw it away. The June 15, 2000 Inter-Korean Joint Declaration led to the North testing a nuclear device six years later. Leading North Korea on the path of peace, reforms and an open-door policy is not this kind of political statement.

In two months, South Koreans will meet their new president. The next president must reexamine the inter-Korean declaration, determine what parts of it have the potential to shake the very foundations of South Korea or impose an unbearable burden on its people and ask the public whether we should push ahead with them. And the National Assembly must decide whether to approve security-related areas of the declaration and areas that impose a crucial burden on the South Korean public after thoroughly reviewing them based on the Constitution and other laws.