The road to Pyongyang may soon be clogged with erstwhile envoys like Shin. After a diplomatic breakthrough between the United States and North Korea last week, South Korea is revving up for more business and exchanges with the North. Pyongyang agreed to suspend test launching of a long-range Taepodong 2 missile in return for Washington’s easing of economic sanctions–announced late last week–and improvement in diplomatic relations. A report delivered to Congress last week by William Perry, U.S. policy coordinator on North Korea, recommends a “markedly faster rate” in improving Washington’s relations with Pyongyang. The accord has soothed jitters over North Korea’s missile adventures–and could signal the North’s readiness to start dismantling cold-war tensions on the Korean Peninsula. “The North has finally opened its main door to the U.S.,” said Jeung Young Tai at the Korean Institute for National Unification. “Its next opening will be to Japan and South Korea.”
The South Koreans aren’t waiting for an official welcome. Since South Korean President Kim Dae Jung proclaimed his “sunshine” policy of engagement early last year, reversing five decades of hostility, more than 100,000 South Koreans have visited the North. Last month union leaders visited Pyongyang to play soccer. This month two reporters from a leftist magazine were allowed to go even after some colleagues were caught spying for the North. South Korea has also sent large amounts of aid to the famine-stricken North, through the Red Cross and other private channels.
Business is scrambling to capitalize on the new openings. North-South trade, about $300 million last year, is growing. Many southern companies are already making garments and footwear in the North, taking advantage of cheap wages. Late last week U.S. President Bill Clinton lifted trade sanctions, allowing those manufacturers to export their cut-rate products to the United States. Kim Yeon Chul, a North Korea expert at Samsung Economic Research Institute, expects a “rush to the North for the gold mine.” Samsung is considering establishing an electronics plant, and Daewoo is making apparel at plants near Pyongyang.
Hyundai, whose chairman has promoted business with the North, has by far the biggest stake in improving ties. More than 100,000 southern tourists have already taken Hyundai cruise tours to scenic Mount Kumkang since they started last November. The cruises are fully booked in October, as southerners rush to see the autumn foliage in the North. The company, which has promised nearly $1 billion to the North in tourism fees, will soon begin building a $580 million sports complex in Pyongyang. It also plans to build an industrial town, a rolling-stock factory and a ship-repair plant. “We’re ambitious,” says Kim Chung Soo, a Hyundai spokesman. “Our programs will only continue to grow.”
There are no guarantees, of course, that the thaw will last. In Washington, Republicans could continue to block U.S. business contacts with the North, which are restricted under the Trade With the Enemy Act. Pyongyang refuses to abide by a 1991 agreement on increased cooperation with the South. The North is also likely to reject U.S. pressure to stop missile production and exports. In return, the United States still prohibits export of military hardware and dual-purpose technology. But First Vice Minister Kang Sok-ju will be the highest ranking North Korean to visit the United States next month. Optimists hope trade and business will persuade cash-starved North Korea to continue cooperating with the West–and open further to its rich brothers in the South. “When the two Koreas become real friends,” says Hyundai’s Kim, “we will be the main bridge.” So far, Hyundai and many other South Korean companies are losing money in the North. But making friends now may one day pay off.
