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New tones of engagement with the international community are emerging from North Korea¡¯s official and quasi-official media. Articles stress North Korea ¡°in the world", "international economic relations", and ¡°the need to respect rules in international relations." Improvements in the hermit country¡¯s external relations are being touted as nothing short of "epoch-making."
North Korea experts read this as laying the psychological groundwork either for improving relations with the U.S. or for economic development through attracting massive foreign investment.
The Chosun Shinbo, published by the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan or Chongryon and essentially a Pyongyang mouthpiece, on Tuesday cited one such example of ¡°fundamental change.¡± It reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in early October, during the inter-Korean summit, asked his chief nuclear negotiator Kim Kye-gwan to brief him on matters agreed in six-nation talks aimed at dismantling the North¡¯s nuclear program. The daily said recent ¡°achievements¡± such as the North's nuclear test in October last year, the Feb. 13 denuclearization agreement this year and the latest inter-Korean summit were the results of Kim Jong-il's policy of ¡°restructuring international relations in Northeast Asia."
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North Korea's top nuclear negotiator Kim Kye-gwan, left, looks over to journalists as he arrives at the airport in Beijing on Tuesday. Kim is expected to meet with U.S. top nuclear envoy Christopher Hill who arrives later in the Chinese capital./AP
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The Workers' Party daily or Rodong Shinmun in an editorial on Monday was scathing about isolationism. "The time has passed when we had to carry out production and construction with our bare hands. Korea lives in the world,¡± the paper said. "We stick to outdated technologies and methods while boasting that we can do everything by ourselves. We disregard modern science and technology and resort to past experiences. But that has nothing to do with today's self-reliance efforts."
"Self-reliance" was the key action slogan for economic strategies North Korea pursued during its serious economic difficulties in the 1990s. But if North Korea still believes in the principle of self-reliance, the daily said, ¡°it is not because we want to undertake economic construction in disregard of international economic relations."
Far from it, the paper said: North Korea ¡°maintains the position that it wants to develop good neighborly relations even with capitalist countries¡± and ¡°is firm in its determination to respect the rules and principles of international relations."
The Rodong Shinmun cited recently established diplomatic ties with the UAE, Swaziland, Dominican Republic, Guatemala and Montenegro and restored relations with Burma and Nicaragua. ¡°This is an epoch-making event and a great diplomatic achievement¡± for the North, it said.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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