North and South Korea opened a fresh round of talks yesterday amid moves by the North to improve ties with the US and Japan and revitalize its faltering economy.
The first inter-Korean talks in four months will be closely watched in Washington and Tokyo as a barometer of North Korea's willingness to cooperate in nuclear and missile non-proliferation efforts and in reducing tension with South Korea.
Hanging over the three-day session at North Korea's Mount Kum-gang resort is lingering mistrust over a naval clash on the Yellow Sea five weeks earlier that killed five South Korean sailors and an estimated 13 North Koreans.
A North Korean statement of regret for the clash cleared the way last week for the weekend talks as well as diplomatic contacts between Pyongyang and the US and Japan.
South Korea opened yesterday's talks reiterating Seoul's demand for a formal apology from the North and the punishment of those responsible for the attack, Seoul's delegation chief Rhee Bong-jo told reporters, according to domestic pool reports.
Rhee, an assistant unification minister, said he "demanded that the North side take measures which satisfy the South" in a private meeting with North Korean counterpart Choi Sung-il of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland.
North Korea's response to Rhee was not publicized, but its state-run media repeated Pyongyang's previous claim that South Korea and its ally the US were to blame for the clash because they uphold a 1953 sea border which the North rejects.
In the first session of talks yesterday, South Korea called for ministerial talks in Seoul this month and asked the North to follow through on previous agreements, including family visits and a North-South railroad project, pool reports said. Seoul's delegates also urged North Korea to send its national team to the Asian Games to be held in South Korea's second-largest city, Pusan, from Sept. 29 to Oct. 14.
Despite the potential for the sea dispute to spoil the talks, many South Korean observers say they expect progress from the meeting because Pyongyang also seeks better ties with Seoul's allies Tokyo and Washington.
Another incentive for North Korea to seek better ties with the outside world is its need for economic support as it embarks on a set of economic policy changes. Pyongyang has raised prices, rents and salaries and scrapped communist ration coupons.
RSS