ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF SONGUN POLITICS UK

From the outset of the New Year, various circles in south Korea strongly demand the easing of the tension of the Korean Peninsula and the dialogue, cooperation and improved relations between the north and south.

The south Korean daily Hankyoreh conducted a survey by phone on January 4 by requesting the “Research Plus”, a public opinion survey organ.

According to the survey, 74.8% of the respondents demanded the dialogue and improved relations between the north and south and the majority expressed the opinion for solving the inter-Korean problems through dialogue while rejecting the north Korea policy of the south Korean regime.

In the meantime, 200-odd former and present professors affiliated to the south Korean “National Union of Professors”, the Professors’ Council for Democracy and the Society of Academic Organizations made public on January 5 a “declaration of professors wishing the prevention of war and the settlement of peace”.

They indicated in the declaration that what matters most is the fact that the government further aggravates the crisis of the Korean Peninsula rather than easing it, and demanded it not agitate a war any longer and strive to prevent war and settle peace.

The government should push ahead with resuming the Mt. Gumgang tour and the expansion of economic exchange, they said and urged the government to discard the thoughtless attempt of system unification but follow the main spirit of the June 15 joint declaration and the October 4 declaration.

On the same day, the People for Peace and Reunification held a press conference in Seoul to demand the government positively opt for dialogue with the north.

The Peace and Disarmament Center under the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy released a statement on January 6 urging the government to come out for dialogue with the north without delay.

It held that what is urgently needed for the improvement of the inter-Korean relations is for the regime to stop the military action against the north and come out for dialogue with it. And it stressed that the government should retract the anti-reunification policies which bedeviled the inter-Korean relations and make efforts for independent reunification, reconciliation and cooperation.

On January 7, the South Side Committee for Implementing the June 15 Joint Declaration published a statement titled “the government should immediately opt for dialogue with the north with a positive stance”.

Holding that the inter-Korean relations of reconciliation and cooperation are the only way to achieve peace and prosperity of the Korean Peninsula, the statement urged the government not to refuse the dialogue under different excuses after the north proposed wide-ranging dialogue and negotiations between the south and north at the onset of the New Year.

The statement stressed that the south and the north should consolidate the framework of peace and prosperity through positive talks, and the dialogue and exchange between the political parties and civic organizations as well as authorities should be restored.

All the compatriots in the south, north and overseas will more dynamically wage the reunification movement this year with the inspired will and courage to open up the way of independent reunification, peace and prosperity without fail in the new decade of the 21st century.