In congratulating Roh Moo-hyun, winner of South Korea's presidential election on Thursday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien (
"It is one of my wishes to see regular aviation links [between Taipei and Seoul] resume during my tenure as foreign minister," Chien said in the ministry's year-end press conference yesterday morning.
"The severing of air links between the two countries for such a long time is not a good thing," he said.
Chien served as Taiwan's transportation minister in 1992 when South Korea decided to shift diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing. He announced the government's decision that year to end the agreement allowing Taiwan's and South Korea's airlines to fly between the two countries.
Since then, only carriers from other nations have flown directly between Taiwan and South Korea.
The foreign minister pointed to the recent reopening of charter flights between the two sides as a "friendly gesture," a move viewed by observers as paving the way for the resumption of regular commercial air links.
Korean Air will resume charter flights to Taiwan later this month, the first flights between the two countries by a South Korean carrier in 10 years.
Taipei has given the go-ahead to Korean Air to operate three charter flights a week between Taipei and Inchon from Dec. 27 to Feb. 21, foreign ministry officials said.
South Korea has already agreed to allow TransAsia Airways and Far Eastern Air Transport Corp to operate four charter flights a week between Taipei and Yangyang from Dec. 22 to Feb. 18.
The foreign minister said he was very "optimistic" about future ties between Taipei and Seoul following Roh's victory in the presidential election.
Chien said Roh, in his written reply to an interview by a Taiwanese reporter, lamented the cutting of ties between Taiwan and South Korea in 1992 and the loss of air links between the two sides.
However, Chien was reluctant to reveal what conditions Taipei has set during negotiations on the resumption of regular flights between the two sides, saying only that the government wanted to foster an atmosphere that was conducive to coming to an agreement.
"Our goodwill has been crystal clear -- with our contacts through various channels of communications as well as through the exchanges of charter flights. Now we'll wait and see the response from South Korea," Chien said.
Although the president-elect in South Korea has yet to take over his new job, Chien said he expected to see air links resume as soon as possible.
Government sources told the Taipei Times that negotiations had been continuing "under the table" over the past few years and that Beijing remained the key stumbling block to the conclusion of an aviation agreement.
Taipei has insisted that Seoul dispatch a ministerial-level official to Taiwan to show South Korea's respect for Taiwan's sovereignty, but such a request has met with silence from Seoul.
Chien yesterday congratulated Roh on his victory, saying he had several similarities with President Chen Shui-bian (
"They both came from poor families, worked hard to rise to the top and chose to work as lawyers," Chien said. "The difference is Roh had been defeated many times in previous elections but still rose to victory. This is something I personally really admire."
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