Two Koreas Open New Round of Talks

May 29, 07:50 AM

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

SEOUL, March 29 (Yonhap) - South and North Korea on Tuesday opened a new round of high-level talks, with Seoul hoping to keep up the momentum of renewed reconciliation following the historic test run of trains across the inter-Korean border.

The five-member North Korean negotiation team, led by Kwon Ho- ung, chief councillor of the Cabinet, arrived here to attend the four-day meeting at the Grand Hilton Hotel on a direct charter flight from Pyongyang.

"It is important to comply with the hope and passion of the Korean people as the law of nature brings the cycle of spring, summer and autumn," Kwon said in a brief reception at the hotel with his South Korean counterpart Lee Jae-jeong [Yi Chae-cho'ng]. A total of 26 North Koreans accompanied Kwon to the talks, the 21st since the first-ever summit of the leaders of the two Koreas, which was held in Pyongyang in June 2000.

Unification Minister Lee, South Korea's point man on North Korea, proposed to maintain the momentum of progress in inter-Korean relations, saying no progress would mean the reversal of the course.

"During the test-run train ride, I thought that was the victory the two Koreas have achieved. Let's move forward like a train, never retreating," Lee said.

Lee is to host a welcoming dinner for the North Korean delegation later Tuesday. The welcoming dinners at previous talks in the South were hosted by the country's prime minister, but the two sides agreed to reduce the number of guests and simplify the procedure, South Korean officials said.

"It is not a problem of 'yes' or 'no.'(The rice shipment) is simply being delayed because of various circumstances," Lee said in a brief meeting with reporters before he attended a Cabinet meeting earlier in the day. "I don't think North Korea will protest the delay during the talks."

But the ministerial talks, the highest channel of regular dialogue between the Koreas, are not likely to sail smoothly as South Korea has linked its promised rice shipments to progress in a landmark February agreement over North Korea's nuclear dismantlement, observers said.

"The two sides will likely engage in a war of nerves over the shipment of rice. North Korea may protest the South's decision to withhold the shipment," an observer of North Korea said, asking to remain anonymous.

During the talks, South Korea plans to stress that the rice shipments will be made immediately after North Korea fulfils its obligation to shut down its main nuclear reactor. It also hopes to discuss the formal opening of the inter-Korean railways, officials said.

"We are firm on the shipment of rice in the form of a loan. It will be sent to the North. But the shipment is being delayed because of various situations. Let's wait and see if the Feb. 13 agreement is being implemented," a senior Unification Ministry official said, asking to remain anonymous.

South Korea had planned to start sending 400,000 tons of rice to the impoverished North late this month in the form of a loan to be paid back over 30 years after a 10-year grace period.

At inter-Korean economic talks in April, however, South Korea made its food aid contingent on the North's fulfilment of its obligation to start denuclearization steps in return for energy aid within 60 days of the Feb. 13 six-party deal.

The North failed to meet the April 14 deadline, citing a banking dispute with the United States over US$25 million of its funds frozen at a Macau bank, Banco Delta Asia. In a separate deal, the North Korean money was unblocked, but the communist country has yet to withdraw it.

On the eve of the meeting, the Choson Sinbo, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper published by Korean residents in Japan, said North Korea will not accept the South's decision to withhold the shipment. The newspaper generally reflects the views of the communist regime.

"The North's policy of honouring the Feb. 13 accord upon the solution of the financial issue does not mean that it will put the solution of pending issues between the two Koreas on hold," it said.

The agenda will also include the resolution of the humanitarian issue of South Korean prisoners of war (POWs) and abductees believed to be held in the North, as well as the facilitation of inter- Korean ec onomic cooperation involving the South's provision of industrial raw materials in return for the North's natural resources, he added.

Government data show that 485 South Koreans have been abducted to North Korea since the 1950-53 Korean War ended, and that 548 South Korean soldiers were taken prisoner by the North during the three- year conflict.

In April, 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 is to provide the South with minerals, such as zinc and magnesite, after the mines are developed with South Korean investments, guaranteed by the Pyongyang government.

The two Koreas reached a similar swapping agreement in July 2005, but it was not implemented 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.

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 rail lines, one cutting across the western section of the border and the other crossing the eastern side, were connected in 2005 and underwent one-time test runs on May 17. A set of parallel roads has been in use since 2005 for South Koreans travelling to the North.

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

In March, Lee and Kwon agreed to resume humanitarian and food aid projects. Later, the Koreas reopened face-to-face family reunions at the Mount Kumgang [Ku'mgang] resort, and the South shipped fertilizer to the North. But the South has yet to send rice. In mid- May, two trains - one along the east coast and the other in the western part of the Korean Peninsula - crossed the Military Demarcation Line dividing the Koreas for the first time since the end of the Korean War.

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 resumption of aid was blocked.

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

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.

Under the deal, North Korea was to 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 were to determine whether the North carries out the steps properly.

The communist nation 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 would be equitably distributed among the five countries.

(c) 2007 BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.