South Korea's unification minister said Monday the establishment of a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula should be the No. 1 topic of a second inter-Korean summit if North Korean leader Kim Jong-il honors his earlier promise to hold the meeting.
He also stressed that it is desirable for the South and North Korean leaders to hold summit meetings on a regular basis to discuss the future of the Korean people in a more productive and responsible manner.
"As U.S. President Bush mentioned, the peace regime should include the declaration of the end of the Korean War. As it is directly related to peace in Northeast Asia, the task should be discussed seriously," Lee Jae-joung said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency.
The 1950-53 war ended with an armistice between the American-led U.N. Command, North Korea and its main ally China.
South Korea is not a signatory to the treaty. The two Koreas are still technically in a state of war because of the absence of a peace treaty.
His remarks come as close attention is being paid to whether the Seoul government will attempt to hold a second inter-Korean summit ahead of the presidential election in December.
But Lee made clear that the government has "no concrete program" to mention for the sake of arranging a second inter-Korean summit, although the meeting should be held as North Korean leader Kim promised during the summit with former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung on June 15, 2000.
South Korea's point man on North Korea also said the government might consider sending a special envoy to North Korea not only to arrange a second inter-Korean summit but to mend strained ties following the communist country's nuclear test last year.
"But now is not a good time, as we are dedicated to the six-party talks and the international community is strengthening sanctions against North Korea," the Anglican priest-turned-politician said. The six parties involved in the talks are the two Koreas, China, the U.S., Japan and Russia.
North Korea boycotted the nuclear talks for more than a year after the U.S. implemented financial sanctions against the communist country in late 2005 for its alleged money laundering and other illegal activities.
The talks reconvened last month in Beijing and ended without any progress or a date set for the next round.
As for the resumption of humanitarian aid to the North, Lee said he will try to make it happen, but he will not use it as leverage for resuming high-level inter-Korean talks suspended since July last year. He declined to reveal what channels he will turn to so as to facilitate such efforts.
"I don't think humanitarian aid should come before the talks.
If the talks are held, the two sides can then discuss the issue of humanitarian aid," he said.
He added that humanitarian aid to North Korea will only be restarted if there is a breakthrough in the six-party talks, inter-Korean agreement through dialogue or national consensus on the issue.
South Korea suspended its food and fertilizer aid to North Korea after it conducted missile tests in July. A possible resumption of the aid was blocked due to the North's nuclear bomb test in October.
Lee stressed the need for economic aid to the impoverished North, saying peace on the Korean Peninsula can only be achieved when the North can feed its people by developing its economy, not by using nuclear weapons.
"It is no wonder that we share some of the responsibility for the North's poverty because we are the same Korean people, but I don't think that the cause of the North's poverty lies with us," Lee said.
He also said South Korea is willing to provide rice to North Korea on a humanitarian basis, not in the form of a loan, if the two sides reach agreement on the issue.
"It all depends on North Korea whether we would change it from a loan to partial humanitarian aid or to total humanitarian aid," he said
Seoul, Jan. 8 (Yonhap News)
Second inter-Korean summit should address peace regime: unification minister |
