March 29, 2024
Analysis

Moment of truth coming for President Park’s ‘Trustpolitik’

Park’s strategy for the normalization of inter-Korean relations was flawed from the outset

CANBERRA – Inter-Korean relations are in the lime-light again. On June 15, Koreans in the North and South were meant to celebrate another anniversary of their first historic summit, which took place in Pyongyang thirteen years ago.

Nevertheless, the late South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il would have been very sad to see how their successors continue destroying the legacy of the Joint North-South Korean Declaration. After the recent exchange of threats and muscle-flexing, the demise of the Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC) came as a symbolic end of a once-blooming inter-Korean reconciliation.

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