My latest K-Times piece is about the upcoming inter-Korean summit and how I hope the National Assembly takes advantage of the summit delay to find out exactly what the administration is up to with regards to North Korea.
Here are a few questions that came to mind:
_ How much money does the administration plan to offer to Pyongyang? What concessions will it ask for in return for all that money?
_ Where will the money come from to pay for the proposed projects? Tax increases? Defense cuts? Debt?
_ Will workers at the proposed new industrial complexes be paid directly or will employers continue to be forced to send dollars to the Pyongyang regime?
_ Is the administration considering giving in to Pyongyang’s demands on the NLL? What concessions will it seek in return?
_ Will the administration try to do anything to improve the abysmal human rights situation in North Korea?
I am sure there are more than a few that I missed. Roh has already said that he wants to make a deal that the next president cannot change, so it behooves the Assemblymen to at least try to find out how much Roh plans to give away and what, if anything, he expects from Pyongyang in return.
6 Comments
It ain’t tax increases and defense cuts. The government announced a round of tax cuts for the middle class(probably an election year ploy) and the defense budget for next year will be increased by 9.9%.
Debts are a very big possibility. The ROK budget deficit has been steadily increasing since 2004, the deficit for this year is expected to hit $22 billion, 9 billion more than the expected $13 billion.
These are good common sense, practical, sensible, reasonable questions. Thus, those who believe in the fantasy of the summit and unification will not be interested in them.
Good questions. Hope you’re not expecting any answers, at least not until the present occupant of the Blue House has moved out.
Andy Jackson’s wishes are not unrealistic at all. Most members of the GNP are highly critical of the summit, and they have the majority of seats in the National Assembly.
^ Never mind, the GNP does not have the majority of the seats; I guess it is the newly created ‘unified left’ party that has the largest number of seats in the Assembly at the moment. Gah.
I am sure roh is drafting his response to the KT answering your questions as we speak.