남북한이 14일 7차 당국간 실무회담을 열고 개성공단 정상화를 위한 막판 협상을 벌였다.
이날 회담에서 남북이 합의문 도출을 이뤄낸다면 개성공단 사태는 발생 133일 만에 극적으로 해결책을 마련하게 된다.
14일 제7차 개성공단 남북당국실무회담이 열린 개성공단 종합지원센터에서 김기웅 남북협력지구지원단장(오른쪽)이 모두발언을 하고 있다. 왼쪽은 박철수 중앙특구개발지도총국 부총국장. (연합뉴스)
남북은 이날 회담에서 최대 쟁점인 유사사태 재발방지 보장 '주체' 문제를 집중 협의한 것으로 알려졌다.
특히 그동안 이번 사태를 일으킨 '북'을 단독으로 재발방지 보장의 주체로 명시 해야 한다고 주장한 우리 정부의 입장이 탄력적으로 돌아선 것으로 알려져 주목된다.
남북한이 한발짝씩 양보할 경우 이날 회담에서 합의문 타결 가능성이 있는 것으로 관측된다.
북한은 이날 오전 10시에 시작된 전체회의에서 지난 7일 조국평화통일위원회(조평통) 대변인 특별담화에서 밝힌 내용대로 재발방지 주체로 '남과 북'을 모두 언급한 것으로 보인다.
통일부 당국자는 북한이 조평통 담화를 중심으로 자신들의 입장을 설명했다고 전했다.
우리 측은 이날 재발방지 보장에 중점을 두고 개성공단 공동위원회, 개성공단 국제화 등을 위한 방안에 대해 설명했다. 우리 대표단은 합의문 수정안을 북측에 제시했고 남북 양측은 이를 중심으로 의견을 교환했다.
이와 관련, 우리 대표단이 북측에 제시한 수정안에 재발방지의 주체로 북측을 명시하지 않으면서도 주체가 북측이라고 해석될 수 있는 방식으로 절충안을 포함하지 않았겠느냐는 관측도 나오고 있다.
정부 당국자는 재발방지 문제와 관련, "실질적인 내용이 중요하다"면서 "합의서만 썼다고 되는 것이 아니라 여러 장치나 환경을 조성하는 것이 중요하며 가장 중요한 것은 합의서를 이행한다는 의지"라고 말했다.
우리 측 수석대표인 김기웅 통일부 남북협력지구지원단장은 회담 모두발언에서 "뜻이 있는 곳에 길이 있다는 말이 있듯이 우리 남북 대표들이 개성공단을 발전적으 로 정상화하겠다는 마음, 한마음 한뜻으로 노력을 해 나간다면 어떤 문제들도, 어려 움도 극복할 수 있을 것"이라고 밝혔다.
북측 수석대표인 박철수 중앙특구개발지도총국 부총국장은 "날씨도 좋고 서로 김을 잘 매면 참 좋은 작황이 나올 것 같다"면서 "그런 의미에서 우린 충분히 우리가 대화할 김을 다 맸다고 생각하며 남측이 적극적으로 토의에 나온다면 내일 8월 1 5일을 앞두고 좋은 결과가 나올 수 있다고 생각한다"고 말했다.
앞서 김 단장은 오전 7시께 남북회담본부에서 개성공단으로 출발하기 직전 기자 들과 만나 "오늘 회담에 임하면서 막중한 책임감을 느낀다"면서 "국민들께서 기대하시는 바에 부응할 수 있도록 최선을 다하겠다"고 밝혔다.
Two Koreas strive for breakthrough at talks
By Shin Hyon-hee and Joint Press Corps
GAESEONG -- The two Koreas on Wednesday went back to work to iron out their differences on reactivating their idle factory park during the seventh round of talks in Gaeseong.
They traded new draft agreements during a morning session and fine-tuned their positions in an apparently warmer atmosphere than previous rounds.
The two sides were at odds over who was responsible for the unprecedented, four-month freeze of the manufacturing zone and how to preclude any relapse.
Seoul demands Pyongyang’s assurances that it will not block off the district again, whereas Pyongyang claims that such safeguards should be prepared by both sides.
“With the focus on guarantees against a relapse, we explained measures for a joint committee for the complex, its globalization and others,” a Unification Ministry official told reporters after the morning session.
“The North side explained its stance, centering on the contents in the Aug. 7 special statement by the spokesperson of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea.”
The meeting came on the heels of a battle of nerves since the sixth round on July 25 broke down over how to prevent another shutdown of the industrial park.
The South made what it called a “final” offer of dialogue on July 28, while pressing Pyongyang to budge by approving civilian aid for flood damage and the weak in the impoverished country and announcing plans to compensate businesses in exchange for their rights to their property in Gaeseong.
After a 10-day letup, the North on Aug. 7 accepted the proposal through the CPRK statement, saying it will lift the suspension and entry ban and promising to “fully protect” the safety and assets of South Koreans.
“The North side will lift the step for temporarily suspending operation in the (complex) it declared on April 8 and fully allow the entry of South Korean businesses,” said the committee in charge of cross-border affairs.
“It will ensure the normal attendance of its workers at the South Korean enterprises which are ready to operate after equipment is checked. It will guarantee the safety of personnel of the south side in (Gaeseong) and fully protect the properties of businesses.”
With Pyongyang insisting on joint safeguards, it remains to be seen whether the latest talks will yield a breakthrough.
Another potential source of contention is who the signatories of the deal should be.
Seoul wants the agreement to be signed by its Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae and Kim Yang-gon, head of the United Front Department in the North’s ruling Workers’ Party.
But Pyongyang seems reluctant to put forward its spy and inter-Korean affairs chief and does not consider the two to be on the same “level,” which was the main reason for the collapse of a planned meeting in June which would have been the first high-level government dialogue since 2007.
“Who’s signing the agreement is important, but what’s in it is more important. Officials with due responsibility could come and sign or they may entrust others with authority. There are many ways,” another ministry official told The Korea Herald, requesting anonymity as the talks are ongoing.
Despite lingering differences, hopes have risen for the revival of the last remaining symbol of cross-border rapprochement, given the North‘s recent “forward-looking” attitude.
The mood appeared more cordial than in earlier rounds.
Touching down in the North Korean border city, the South’s lead negotiator Kim Ki-woong quietly said “Good to see you” to his counterpart Park Chol-su who responded with a smile. During the past encounters they mostly exchanged no greetings or smiles but flat, ceremonial handshakes.
“The fact that today we sit face to face for the seventh time underscores the problem that we representatives have to deal with is not simple at all,” said Kim, director-general of inter-Korean cooperation district support at the Unification Ministry, as the morning session kicked off.
“As the old saying goes, where there is a will, there is a way. If we make efforts in unison for the future-oriented normalization of the Gaeseong complex, we will be able to overcome any problem, any difficulty.”
The North‘s Park responded with a rosy outlook for the talks, pointing to good weather and preparations so far.
“If the South is actively engaged in discussions through today’s meeting, a good outcome could be brought about ahead of tomorrow (Liberation Day),” said Park, vice director of the General Bureau of the Special Zone Development Guidance.
Businessmen, meanwhile, nervously awaited good news from across the border.
About 10 company executives early in the morning visited the Headquarters for Inter-Korean Dialogue in central Seoul, from where Kim’s delegation departed for Gaeseong.
They were holding small banners calling for “guarantees for stable management activity at the complex” and “allowing trips to the North for facility maintenance and repair.”
Some 30 South Korean managers and employees who were forced out of work turned up in the border city of Paju, waving to the delegation aboard a bus with a placard reading, “We want to work: the normalization of the Gaeseong industrial complex.”
(
heeshin@heraldcorp.com)