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South Koreans arrive in Pyongyang for meetings

"I believe North Korea will reform and open up because if North Korea is run by sensible people, they would know there is no other way but reform and openness."

Roh Moo-hyun, South Korean president

A South Korean delegation arrived yesterday in North Korea for the first high-level talks between the two countries in seven months, while South Korea's president stressed the importance of reassuring Pyongyang that abandoning its nuclear weapons is in its own interest.

The resumed Cabinet-level meetings -- the highest channel of dialogue between the Koreas -- are the first concrete sign of eased tensions on the divided peninsula since Pyongyang's Feb. 13 agreement at international arms talks to shut down its main nuclear reactor within 60 days.

The high-level talks were last held in July, when the South refused to continue aid to the North after it test-fired a series of missiles. The countries' relations further soured after the North tested a nuclear weapon in October.

The South's Unification Ministry said its delegation arrived yesterday afternoon in the North Korean capital Pyongyang, where the sides were to have an official dinner before the formal start of talks today.

In Seoul, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said it was important to show North Korea that it would get more for abandoning its nuclear weapons than keeping them.

"We have to keep sending signals [to the North] that their security will be guaranteed and they could get profits through reform and openness," Roh told a news conference of Internet-based news media yesterday.

"I believe North Korea will reform and open up because if North Korea is run by sensible people, they would know there is no other way but reform and openness," he said.

At this week's talks, the two sides will discuss how to cooperate in implementing the Feb. 13 agreement, South Korean Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung said yesterday before his departure for the talks that run through Friday.

That agreement calls for a separate forum on bringing peace to the Korean peninsula, which has remained technically in a state of war since the 1953 ceasefire that ended the Korean War.

"We will try to restore the framework of South-North dialogue and discuss various issues needed for establishing peace on the Korean peninsula through dialogue," Lee said.

This week's talks are also expected to discuss restoring South Korea's humanitarian aid of rice and fertilizer to the North, and resuming reunions of families split by the border. The reunions have been on hold since aid was suspended last year.

Local media have reported that the two sides may talk about holding an inter-Korean summit, but Roh yesterday dismissed the idea as premature.
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