Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

North, South Korea Agree to Ease Tensions


You have to wonder if China is behind a reconciliation effort between the two Koreas.

The alliance between the South and its chief ally, the United States is already frayed. Debaters are apparently stimulated by the result of a recent poll of the new members of the National Assembly, which revealed that 55 percent favor closer relations with China rather than the United States.
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Holding a press conference upon returning to Korea, Park conveyed the expressions of American officials who said, “Korea is going in the wrong direction [in moving closer to China than the U.S.],” and, “Korea seems like the country with the most serious anti-Americanism outside the Arab World.” Park said,
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200405/200405300084.html

Then there are the strong protests lodged by the Korean government concerning statements by 8th U.S. Army commander Lt. Gen. Charles Campbell, who said during a meeting with the press that Korea-U.S. allied forces could be inserted in other areas outside the Korean Peninsula, shows just what state our alliance is in. Or we are telling Korea where their troops are to go.
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The United States will utilize Korea as a stronghold to send U.S. armed forces to different regions and make it a central axis of the U.S. forces in the world for their swift implementation of operations.

-Am

North, South Korea Agree to Ease Tensions

Updated 10:42 PM ET June 3, 2004


By SOO-JEONG LEE

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North and South Korean generals agreed Friday to stop propaganda broadcasts and take steps to avoid high-seas clashes, but made no moves to reduce troops along the world's most militarized border.

The agreement announced in a joint statement after all-night talks also made no mention of another of the toughest issues for the two sides: the international dispute over the communist North's development of nuclear weapons.

The two Koreas have yet to sign a peace treaty to formally end their 1950-1953 war and Friday's agreements were part of steps in the past two weeks to ease their tense Cold War-era standoff. Military generals from the two sides met face-to-face for the first time last week.

Generals agreed Friday to adopt a standard radio frequency and signaling system for their navies to avoid confusion that could lead to clashes at sea, and to exchange data on illegal fishing. They also decided to set up a telephone hot line.



The two sides will end propaganda efforts along their border by mid-August, the joint statement said. Loudspeaker broadcasts will stop, and large billboards will be dismantled.

"Both sides have agreed to jointly make efforts in order to ease military tensions and achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula," the statement said.

The agreements are not expected to lead to a dramatic reduction in tension because troops and weapons will not be removed. But they indicate a new flexibility in the negotiating style of North Korea, which used to discuss military matters on the peninsula with the U.S.-led U.N. Command alone and viewed the South Korean military as a Pentagon puppet.

Direct military talks between the Koreas could streamline and speed up efforts to make the peninsula a safer place. At the same time, it might raise suspicions that the North is trying to improve ties with its neighbor in order to fray the alliance between the South and its chief ally, the United States.

In a sign of how much mistrust remains, the negotiators avoided talk of the North's missile arsenal, or possible troop pullbacks from one of the most heavily fortified borders in the world. The tank traps, gun emplacements and minefields remain in place, and there is no sign of an imminent political solution to a conflict that has dragged on for more than half a century.

The talks came amid suspicion that North Korea has several or more nuclear bombs, and is trying to produce more. The two Koreas, the United States, Russia, China and Japan are hoping to meet before month's end to discuss how to end the North's nuclear development, perhaps in exchange for giving economic or energy aid to the impoverished country, and providing it with security guarantees.

The six nations have held two previous rounds of nuclear talks in Beijing. North Korea often accuses the United States _ which has a large troop contingent in South Korea _ of plotting an invasion. The North, which has a poorly equipped, but massive army, has said the U.S. war in Iraq and ensuing occupation prove the need for what it describes as a nuclear "deterrent."

Washington says it has no intention of invading North Korea, and that Pyongyang should stop nuclear activity in line with its international commitments.

The military talks in South Korea marked only the second time generals from the former battlefield foes have negotiated. A first meeting occurred last week in North Korea when both sides agreed to discuss ways of preventing naval clashes along their poorly marked western sea border.

Both North and South want to avoid deadly naval firefights during the May-June crab-catching season, when fishing boats from the two countries jostle for position along the maritime border off the west coast. Navy boats from the two sides fought in 1999 and 2002.

North and South Korea often accuse each other of violating the western maritime border. The South recognizes a border demarcated by the United Nations after the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, but the North claims a boundary farther south.

The latest negotiations, held at the South's scenic Sorak Mountain, began Thursday morning and were scheduled for only one day, but dragged on into the night. The North Korean delegation headed home early Friday morning.

The two Korean militaries seldom hold talks, although their governments have expanded economic and political exchanges in recent years. Their defense ministers met in September 2000.

Also this week, delegations from the two countries met in the North's capital of Pyongyang to discuss inter-Korean investment and trade. South Korea is pushing North Korea to open cross-border transport links, and is funding the construction of an industrial park in the North Korean city of Kaesong.

Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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