July 4 South–North Joint Statement Explained

Hangul:7·4 남북 공동 성명
Hanja:7·4 南北 共同 聲明
Rr:Chilsa Nambuk Gongdong Seongmyeong
Mr:Ch'ilsa Nambuk Kongdong Sŏngmyŏng

The July 4 South–North Joint Statement,[1] [2] [3] also known as the July 4 South–North Joint Communiqué,[4] [5] [6] [7] was the first joint statement by the governments of South Korea and North Korea, signed on July 4, 1972. The signatories of the statement were Lee Hu-rak and Kim Yong-ju, who represented the delegations from the south and north, respectively.

Pre-statement meetings

On May 2, 1972, South Korean president Park Chung Hee sent Lee Hu-rak, the then-director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA), to Pyongyang to meet and discuss the prospects of improving inter-Korean relations and Korean reunification with North Korean premier Kim Il Sung. However, the North Korean delegation was represented by Kim Yong-ju, the director of North Korea's Organization and Guidance Department and Kim Il Sung's younger brother, instead of Kim Il Sung. The two delegations, headed by Lee and Kim, held talks over the course of four days, from May 2 to 5, 1972. North Korean Vice Premier Pak Song-chol, acting on behalf of Kim Yong-ju, later visited Seoul and held further talks with Lee Hu-rak from May 29 to June 1, 1972. A joint statement by the governments of the two Koreas was subsequently finalized on July 4, 1972.[4]

Highlights

See main article: Three Principles of National Reunification. The declared goals of the statement were "to remove the misunderstandings and mistrust, and mitigate heightened tensions... between the South and North", and "to expedite unification".[4]

The two delegations agreed to the following principles as a basis for achieving Korean reunification:

  1. Unification shall be achieved independently, without depending on foreign powers and without foreign interference.
  2. Unification shall be achieved through peaceful means, without resorting to the use of force against each other.
  3. A great national unity as one people shall be sought first, transcending differences in ideas, ideologies, and systems.

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Moon Jae-in . 2022 New Year's Address by President Moon Jae-in . Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the USA. January 3, 2022.
  2. News: Yang . Moo-jin . Why leaflets should stop . June 1, 2022 . . December 21, 2020 . en.
  3. News: Yang . Jung-ah . Minister Kim Ha Joong: "We Are Waiting for a Request for Food from North Korea" . June 1, 2022 . . May 9, 2008.
  4. Web site: Lee Hu-rak . Kim Young-joo . The July 4 South-North Joint Communiqué . Ministry of Unification of the Republic of Korea. United Nations Peacemaker. July 4, 1972.
  5. Book: Kim . Dong Jin . The Korean Peace Process and Civil Society: Towards Strategic Peacebuilding . September 21, 2018 . Springer . Berlin . 978-3-319-97100-1 . 89 . en.
  6. Book: Byeong-cheon . Lee . Developmental Dictatorship and the Park Chung-hee Era: The Shaping of Modernity in the Republic of Korea . 2006 . Homa & Sekey Books . Paramus, New Jersey . 978-1-931907-35-4 . 239 . en.
  7. Limyingcharoen . Budsayapan . The Role of South Korea in Nuclear Crisis on the Korean Peninsula in 2000–2018 . Thai Journal of East Asian Studies . December 2019 . 23 . 2 . 294–311 .