South Korea Urges North Korea to Dismantle Nuclear Programme

Feb 28, 04:14 AM

Current Headlines: Text of report in English by South Korean news agency Yonhap

[Yonhap headline: "S. Korea Calls For Resumption Of Family Reunions, N. Korea's Action On Nuke Deal"]

PYONGYANG/SEOUL, Feb. 28 (Yonhap) - South Korea on Wednesday called upon North Korea to step up efforts to comply with a recent nuclear disarmament agreement and immediately resume reunion events for separated families on both sides of their shared border.

The two Koreas started a two-hour plenary session of the first high-level talks in seven months in the North's capital, Pyongyang. On Tuesday, negotiators from both sides attended a gala dinner hosted by North Korean Prime Minister Pak Pong ju [Pak Pong-chu], shortly after the South's delegation arrived in North Korea.

In a keynote speech, Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung [Yi Chae- cho'ng], Seoul's point man on Pyongyang, urged the North to fulfil the promise to dismantle its nuclear weapons programme in return for energy aid in a "quick and smooth" manner.

According to pool reports, Lee also said that the suspended construction of a family reunion centre at the Mount Geumgang [Ku'mgang] resort should resume immediately and that family reunions via video should be held no later than April.

In addition, Lee proposed to hold the cabinet-level meeting every quarter of the year regardless of the political situation, the reports said.

But it was not immediately clear how Lee's North Korean counterpart Kwon Ho-ung, chief councillor of the cabinet, responded to the proposals.

North Korea is widely expected to ask for the immediate resumption of the South's rice and fertilizer aid, while the South hopes to use it as leverage to make the North take quick steps in complying with the six-party agreement.

Other items on the table will be opening cross-border railways and exchanging raw materials from the South for the North's minerals, according to South Korean officials.

In the afternoon, the South Korean delegation is to visit the Kim Won-kyun Pyongyang Music College. North Korea chose the school which is located in the district of Munsu near the Taedong River, defying concern that it may attempt to stage a visit to a politically sensitive place.

The talks, the 20th since the leaders of the two Koreas held their first-ever summit in Pyongyang in June 2000, come as the world is paying keen attention to whether North Korea will honour its promise to take the first steps towards ending its nuclear weapons programme in return for energy aid.

The ministerial talks, the highest-level channel of regular dialogue between the two Koreas, had been suspended amid tension over North Korea's missile tests in July and its nuclear weapon test in October.

On Feb. 15, Seoul and Pyongyang agreed to resume ministerial dialogue after a seven-month hiatus, just two days after the North pledged to take action to end its nuclear weapons programme in return for economic and diplomatic benefits from South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.

Seoul is expected to ship some of the fertilizer aid to Pyongyang shortly after the cabinet-level talks so that it can be used for the planting of rice seedlings this spring. The rest will likely be offered according to how much progress the North makes in implementing the steps agreed upon during the six-nation talks on the North's nuclear dismantlement, according to sources.

Shortly after the North conducted missile tests in July, the South suspended food and fertilizer aid. After the North's nuclear weapon test in October, the possible resumption of aid was blocked.

In retaliation, the communist nation immediately suspended inter- Korean talks and reunions for families separated by the sealed border since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

"Our aid to North Korea will be within the scope of the amount that can be understood by the public," a government official said, asking to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the issue, suggesting the aid will not exceed 500,000 tons of rice and 350,000 tons of fertilizer this year, the amount given in previous years.

Inter-Korean family reunion events will likely begin again as s oon as the South resumes aid to the North, so diplomatic watchers say that more attention should be paid to whether the two sides will agree to address the issue of South Korean prisoners of war (POWs) and abductees held in the North.

In April, the South offered more economic aid to the North in exchange for finding a resolution to the POW and abductee issue, but the North was reluctant to deal with the humanitarian issue.

Official Seoul government data shows that 485 South Koreans have been abducted to North Korea since the Korean War ended, and that 548 South Korean soldiers were taken prisoner by the North during the three-year conflict.

South Korea also plans to propose to operate cross-border railways whose test runs were cancelled abruptly by the North in May. The cancellation was viewed as a last-minute veto by the hard- line military in the North.

The tracks, one line cutting across the western section of the border and the other crossing through the eastern side, have been completed and were set to undergo test runs. A set of parallel roads have been in use since 2005 for South Koreans travelling to the North.

South Korea has repeatedly called on North Korea to provide a security guarantee for the operation of cross-border railways, but the North has yet to give an answer on the issue.

The reconnection of the severed train lines was one of the tangible inter-Korean rapprochement projects agreed upon following the historic summit between then South Korean President Kim Tae- chung [Kim Dae-jung] and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il [Kim Cho'ng- il] in 2000.

The two sides are also expected to discuss inter-Korean economic cooperation with a focus on the implementation of an agreement reached in July, according to officials.

In July 2005, South Korea agreed to provide the North with US$80 million worth of raw materials to help it produce clothing, footwear and soap starting in 2006. In return, the North was to provide the South with minerals, such as zinc and magnesite, after the mines were developed with South Korean investments, guaranteed by the Pyongyang government.

But the accord was not carried out, as North Korea suddenly cancelled scheduled tests of two cross-border railways in May 2006. North Korea's subsequent missile and nuclear weapons tests further clouded hopes of implementing the accord.

"They will also discuss the resumption of military talks, including the second meeting of defence chiefs because a military safety guarantee accord is necessary to ensure progress in such economic projects as cross-border train operations and prevention of flood damage at the Imjin River," a Unification Ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

Lee will likely stress that it is important for the North to honour the six-nation agreement, and explain its implications for the inter-Korean relationship, as well as the political and economic benefits North Korea will receive in return for implementing the accord, he added.

On Feb. 13, North Korea agreed to shut down its nuclear facilities and eventually dismantle them in exchange for energy aid and other benefits. The US also agreed to discuss normalizing relations with the communist nation.

In the deal, North Korea will receive initial aid equal to 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil for shutting down and sealing its main nuclear reactor and related facilities at Yongbyon, 80 kilometres north of Pyongyang, within 60 days. International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors will determine whether the North carries out the steps properly.

North Korea can eventually receive another 950,000 tons in aid if it disables the reactor irreversibly and declares that it has ended all nuclear programmes. The cost of the aid will be equitably distributed among the five other countries.

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