South Korean Agency on Prospects for US Envoy's North Visit

Jun 21, 05:15 AM

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

["News Focus" by Son So'k-chu [Sohn Suk-joo]: "Hill's visit likely to accelerate inter-Korean cooperation, peace"]

SEOUL, June 21 (Yonhap) - The chief US nuclear envoy's visit to Pyongyang on Thursday raised hopes that inter-Korean economic cooperation as well as the establishment of a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula will be accelerated.

South Korea hopes to provide a loan of rice aid to North Korea before international nuclear watchdog inspectors visit Pyongyang next week to discuss the shutdown of the North's main nuclear reactor.

Christopher Hill's visit appears likely to create a favourable atmosphere for the cycle of vulnerable inter-Korean relations, signalling US willingness to let the South resume its humanitarian aid to the North without reservations.

"If North Korea decides to give up its nuclear weapons programme, we are ready to move forward quickly and in an aggressive manner," Foreign Minister Song Min-soon [Song Min-sun] told reporters just minutes before Hill's visit was leaked to the media.

South Korea withheld its loan of 400,000 tons of rice as an inducement for North Korea to start its nuclear dismantlement under the landmark February 13 agreement, citing the need to align the pace of inter-Korean ties to progress in six-party talks on the North's denuclearization.

Some critics accuse South Korea of succumbing to delicate US pressure to put the multilateral nuclear talks ahead of inter- Korean dialogue. But Hill's successful visit would likely give South Korea more room to manoeuvre in handling inter-Korean relations and perceived US concerns about the speed of detente on the Korean Peninsula.

"Hill's visit might contribute to fostering the virtuous cycle of the six-party talks and inter-Korean relations," a South Korean government official said, asking to remain anonymous.

South Korea is also willing to play a more active role in establishing a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula when North Korea and the United States resume talks aimed at normalizing relations more than five decades after the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

"The Korea issue is not the only thing the US sees, so we have to be more active in transforming the current situation into a peace regime," Unification Minister Lee Jae-jeong [Yi Chae-cho'ng] said in early March when Washington and North Korea started historic talks on normalization of diplomatic ties.

South Korea hopes to replace the 1953 armistice treaty with a permanent peace regime, and some experts say a push for such a regime might create a favourable mood for resolving the dispute over the North's nuclear weapons programme.

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.

The North also agreed to discuss ways to establish a permanent peace regime on the Korean Peninsula during the six-party nuclear talks involving the two Koreas, the US, Japan, China and Russia.

If North Korea takes the first steps towards nuclear dismantlement, the two Koreas, the US and China will likely start discussions on a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.

If the talk of a peace regime materializes and shows signs of advancing, it might lead to a second summit between the two Koreas before South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun [No Mu-hyo'n] steps down in early 2008, analysts said. The 2000 historic summit between the two sides opened a floodgate of inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation.

Roh has said that he is willing to sit down together with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il [Kim Cho'ng-il] to discuss ways of establishing peace on the peninsula before his term of office expires in early 2008.

"Hill's visit will likely improve the level of confidence between North Korea and the US, so it will benefit the overall speed of inter-Korean cooperation and six-party talks for the time being," the government official said.

The Korean War ended in 1953 with an armistice between the US- led UN Comma nd, North Korea and its main ally China.

But the two Koreas are still technically in a state of war due to the absence of a peace treaty. South Korea is not a signatory to the agreement because it was opposed to stopping the war. Currently, about 30,000 US troops are stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the Korean War.

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