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Talks set between CETRA and Seoul

After a nine-year hiatus, talks between the semi-official China External Trade Development Council (CETRA) and its South Korean counterpart are scheduled to resume on April 24, but sources said it's unlikely that such a move could help restart annual economic ministers meetings between Taipei and Seoul.

"Taipei wants to utilize the opportunity to pave the way for the resumption of the annual economic ministers meetings but it's not likely to happen as Seoul has promised Beijing not to have any high-level official contact with Taipei," said a veteran observer based in Seoul under condition of anonymity.

The meeting between CETRA and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) is scheduled to take place in Seoul on April 24, sources said.

The annual meetings between the two semi-official agencies were halted after Seoul and Taipei severed diplomatic ties in 1992.

Reflecting on the 10 years since Seoul switched ties from Taipei to Beijing on Aug. 24, 1992, an insider in the foreign ministry said both sides, troubled by various thorny issues such as a trade deficit as well as the halted air links, have made little progress in improving their bilateral relations since then.

"Ties between Taipei and Seoul haven't changed much since the time when the two countries cut ties with each other and now," the official said under condition of anonymity.

The aviation talks between Seoul and Taipei, for instance, have progressed little since 1995 when working-level officials from both sides found their positions were far apart during a related negotiation.

But the aviation talks saw what an official described as "a turning point" last year when Taiwan saw the first transfer of power from the then ruling party KMT to the DPP.

The private ties between President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and the South Korean President Kim Dae-jung also helped create an amiable atmosphere to foster the success of the negotiations, analysts said.

Former South Korean Foreign Minister Lee Joung-binn said in January that "resuming flights to Taiwan by our airlines will be a major diplomatic mission that should be resolved this year.''

During a bilateral talk last July in Seoul between Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭), Minister of Transportation and Communications, and her then South Korean counterpart Kim Yoon-ki, at the first Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum meeting of tourism ministers, Yeh staged Taipei's proposal but it was not accepted by Seoul.

Yeh said Seoul should send a minister to Taipei under the formula of "vacation diplomacy" and the both ministers could meet "on an accidental basis" to sign a related agreement on the resumption of air links.

But sources said Kim said such a decision would be in the hands of the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT).

When contacted by the Taipei Times yesterday evening, MOFAT vice spokesman Kim Euy-taek said: "I don't have any relevant information with me right now."

Foreign ministry officials in Taiwan said both sides were in constant contact on the issue but that it's premature to expect any concrete agreement to be made soon.

Foreign Minister Tien Hung-mao (田弘茂) told reporters in January that the China factor has remained a major obstacle to negotiations.

"South Korea has more reservations than us, and its main concern is China. South Korea now hopes to improve its relations with North Korea, and China has had significant influence on North Korea. Under such circumstances, South Korea will be alert to see China's reaction," Tien said in January.

"South Korea doesn't want to irritate China because any accord with Taiwan that has an official nature could trigger a fierce response from China," said Lee Ming (李明), political analyst at National Chengchi University.

Seoul has refused to insert terms -- such as "territory" into a drafted aviation accord -- that could imply Taiwan is a sovereign state, and preferred using neutral terms such as "area" instead, Lee said.
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