"When the Lights Come On, Let's Meet" 1989 Inter-Korean Talks Interrupted by Power Outage... Signs of North Korea's Economic Hardship

Unveiling the 6th Inter-Korean Talks Documents:
A Glimpse into the Political Tensions and Economic Hardships of the 1980s

"Let's do it when the electricity comes on"

On the morning of March 2, 1989, the 2nd preliminary meeting of the high-level inter-Korean talks was held at Tongilgak in the northern area of Panmunjom. While both South and North Korea were engaged in a power struggle over the then South Korea-U.S. joint military exercise called 'Team Spirit,' the electricity suddenly went out. The blackout lasted about 10 minutes. This was a scene that gave an early glimpse of North Korea's severe economic difficulties that worsened in the 1990s.

The South Korean delegation asked, "Are you having some difficulties with electricity?" and suggested, "We have quite abundant electricity these days, so if (North Korea) has such difficulties, shouldn't we quickly expand inter-Korean exchanges?"

However, the North Korean representative, Baek Nam-jun (real name Baek Nam-sun), head of the preliminary inter-Korean high-level talks delegation, said, "Is there anywhere that produces as much electricity as we do? We even offered to send electricity to the South in the past," adding, "There are so many hydroelectric and thermal power plants..." refusing to lower his pride. Baek was the former North Korean Foreign Minister Baek Nam-sun, well known as a 'pro-North Korea' figure. He passed away in January 2007. It is said that during the inter-Korean talks in the 1990s, he used the alias 'Baek Nam-jun.'

After this meeting, the South and North agreed to hold the 3rd meeting at the South Korean side of Panmungak, the Peace House, and then parted ways.

The 4th preliminary meeting of the Inter-Korean High-Level Talks held at Tongilgak, Panmunjom on November 15, 1989. Ministry of Unification

On the 13th, the Ministry of Unification disclosed the 6th inter-Korean talks document containing these details. The document consists of a total of 2,266 pages covering inter-Korean talks in political, economic, and sports fields from September 1984 to July 1990. During this period, the two Koreas held five economic talks, two preliminary contacts for parliamentary talks, three IOC-mediated Lausanne inter-Korean sports talks, and eight preliminary high-level inter-Korean talks.

The dialogues between the two Koreas during this period also revealed North Korea's demand to dismantle the 'concrete barrier' near the Military Demarcation Line and allow free movement, which drew attention. At the preliminary meeting held for the first time in the new year on January 31, 1990, North Korean representative Baek stated, "It is painful enough that there is a military demarcation line within the country, but having an artificially built barrier is a disgrace to the nation," and insisted, "The concrete barrier in the southern area of the demarcation line must be removed." At that time, the South Korean military had constructed anti-tank defense barriers near the Military Demarcation Line, but North Korea distorted this as an 'artificial blockade for permanent division' and used it to criticize the South.

However, this was the exact opposite of the hostile actions expressed last October when North Korea blew up the inter-Korean connecting roads around the Gyeongui and Donghae lines, severing physical links. North Korea insisted on dismantling the concrete barrier, stopping the Team Spirit exercises, and holding summit-level inter-Korean negotiations but refused substantive discussions, and the talks ended without any achievements.

Kim Woong-hee, former head of the inter-Korean talks division at the Ministry of Unification, explained, "North Korea raising issues like the Team Spirit exercises or the concrete barrier was a strategy to delay inter-Korean talks," adding, "In the mid to late 1980s, North Korea often used the talks for propaganda for their own politics rather than genuinely improving inter-Korean relations, so substantive discussions rarely took place." He further said, "Especially in the mid-1980s, there was no trust formed between the two Koreas," and added, "It is thought that the talks remained more of a 'dialogue for dialogue's sake' rather than producing concrete results."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.