Please Don’t Print the ‘R’ Word

South Korea is considering an untried new approach to secure the release extradition of its abductees those who rallied to the workers’ paradise. (We have learned that how such things are characterized in the South Korean press can be a matter of some sensitivity to the governments of both North Korea and South Korea.) And the untried new approach? Paying ransom protection money brotherly assistance. Well, almost untried.

OK, tried that. And yet, despite my better judgment, I favor it.

The government is reviewing a plan to offer large-scale support to North Korea, such as investment in a Social Overhead Capital (SOC) program, plant building, and goods in return for the repatriation of some 1,000 civilian abductees and prisoners of war (POW) that are believed to be alive in North Korea.

A thousand? That’s more than double previous estimates I’d seen.

If the plan is approved, the government will suggest it to the North at the inter-Korean ministerial meeting in Pyongyang from April 21-24. In return for the aid, the government is also considering additional demands, such as regular reunion sessions and letter exchanges for separated families.

So why support this? Ordinarily, I’m not a big fan of giving in to North Korea’s demands. In this case, I can’t see how else are these people ever going to get home again, and just as I’m not such a hard-hearted bastard as to let hungry North Korean kids starve, I just can’t imagine consigning these people to die in North Korea without being reunited with their families.

What’s more, in the unlikely event these people return home, it will not cause the anticipated warming of inter-Korean ties. As with the defectors, South Korea won’t be able to silence all of the abductees of their family members. Some will talk of how they suffered in the North. The word will leak out. And the effect will be to shift the focus to the abduction story, rather than Kaesong, Kumgang, or other stories that portray North Korea as reforming (contrary to the truth of the matter, imho). In fact, the return of abductees from Japan was a milestone in turning the Japanese people against the softer line in dealing with the North. For at least some South Koreans — who knows how many? — this could have a similar effect. It might even mean that a future South Korean government will reduce aid, resulting in a net loss for Kim Jong Il.

Which is why North Korea will never agree.

In a perfect world, of course, South Korea would simply demand the return of all of its citizens before providing any more aid or going forward with any exchange programs (indeed, such a stance has potential as the centerpiece of a candidate’s new “realist” policy toward the North). This isn’t a perfect world, however. Those people are aging and dying, and they need to come home.