The South Korean government wishes to resume its dialogue with North Korea at the earliest date possible, the country's point man on North Korean affairs said Thursday.
Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung said dialogue between the rival Koreas would help international negotiations over the communist nation's nuclear weapons program, but said their resumption depends on the North.
"I hope talks between the South and the North will be held at the earliest date possible," Lee told a regular press conference, his first since taking office earlier in the month.
"But there needs to be an agreement between the South and North Korea" for the resumption of dialogue, he added, saying "Therefore, it is difficult to say decisively" when the talks will be resumed.
Lee refused to answer when later asked whether Seoul has proposed talks with Pyongyang.
The apparent efforts to resume dialogue with the communist state follow Pyongyang's return to the nuclear disarmament talks, which also involve South Korea, Japan, China, Russia and the United States.
The Beijing-based negotiations ended last week without any significant progress despite what was believed to be the most lucrative offer yet by the United States for the impoverished North, but the South Korean minister said there would be good results if the countries continue to walk down the path of negotiations.
"The U.S. government would have to find ways to deal with this (nuclear) issue more flexibly while the North Korean side, too, has to realize that it has to resolve this problem to help establish peace on the Korean Peninsula," Lee said.
"If they do so, I believe a way to resolve the issue would soon be opened."
The South Korean government has long believed and claimed that a second inter-Korean summit would greatly help ease tension between the divided Koreas while also contributing to international efforts to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions.
However, the minister said the government has no plans to arrange a meeting between President Roh Moo-hyun and his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-il in the near future.
"As far as I understand, the government has no concrete plans for a summit or any ongoing efforts to hold one," Lee said.
One of Pyongyang's conditions for resumption of dialogue with Seoul, although never said explicitly, has been resumption of the South's economic assistance to the North.
Inter-Korean dialogue was halted shortly after Seoul suspended shipments of humanitarian aid to the communist state following the latter's test-firing of seven ballistic missiles on July 5.
The unification minister said his country has no immediate plans to resume sending aid, mostly food and fertilizer, to the North, but the government plans to review the nature and purpose of the aid.
"The review would include the effectiveness of assistance we have been providing and how we would resume our aid in the future," the minister said.
He also said North Korea's return to the dialogue table with the South was one of conditions for resuming aid.
"What is most important (for the resumption of Seoul's assistance) is progress in the six-party nuclear talks. (Resumption) of dialogue between the South and North would be (a requirement)," Lee said, adding that South Korean public consent would be another factor.
The Koreas have remained divided along a heavily fortified border since the end of 1950-53 Korean War. The two officially remain in a state of war, as the Korean War ended only with an armistice agreement and not a peace treaty.
Seoul, Dec. 28 (Yonhap News)
Seoul hopes for early resumption of inter-Korean talks: unification minister |
