Foreign Correspondence

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N.K. leader wants better ties with Seoul





Roh promises comprehensive assistance to North after nuclear settlement

By Seo Hyun-jin

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il expressed his commitment to enhancing inter-Korean relations, and President Roh Moo-hyun promised comprehensive economic assistance to the North once Pyongyang's nuclear standoff is settled, a presidential spokesman said yesterday.

The two leaders indirectly exchanged the pledges as the Korean Peninsula marked the fourth anniversary of its historic bilateral summit. The amicable mood came ahead of multilateral talks next week on the protracted North Korean nuclear issue.


North Korean chief delegate Ri Jong-hyuk speaks at a global forum marking the fourth anniversary of the June 15 summit declaration between South and North Korea in a Seoul hotel yesterday. South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and former President Kim Dae-jung look on. [The Korea Herald]
"Kim said the two Koreas should greatly improve South-North relations by moving forward the ongoing good tides," Ri Jong-hyuk, a vice president of the North's Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, told Roh at a brief meeting before the opening of an international forum in Seoul. Ri said the North Korean leader directed him to convey the message, as well as his best regards to Roh, according to presidential spokesman Yoon Tai-young.

Ri is one of seven North Korean officials on a four-day visit to the South to attend the forum commemorating the inter-Korean summit on June 15, 2000 between former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and the North's Kim.

It is the first time that the North's leader has delivered a message to Roh since the South Korean president took office in February last year.

Roh thanked him for the message and stressed the need for the two sides to maintain confidence and their promises to implement the June 15 Joint Declaration, which laid the groundwork for inter-Korean reconciliation, Yoon said.

Roh continued his goodwill gesture to the North as he delivered a congratulatory speech at the forum, which was jointly organized by the South's Yonsei University, the Korea Institute for National Unification and the North's Institute on Unification.

"Inter-Korean cooperation will be accelerated if the North Korean nuclear issue is resolved, and we are preparing comprehensive and concrete plans for that," Roh said at the forum in the Grand Hilton Hotel in Seoul.

The president added the South would actively cooperate for the North to establish an infrastructure and enhance its industrial productivity, which would lead to epoch-making economic development of the impoverished country.

Presidential officials said Roh was reaffirming the government's intention to speed up economic cooperation with the North, which would span energy, transport, communications and modernization of production facilities.

The South will also help the North obtain international aid by normalizing relations with foreign countries and affiliating with international organizations, the officials said.

"Roh's proposal is 'comprehensive' in that it supposes cooperation covering all industries for North Korea's economic development, and it is 'specific' in that it details economic exchanges according to stages and areas in the process of resolving the nuclear issue," the presidential spokesman said.

The pledge drew particular attention because of its possible positive impact on North Korea's stance when it attends the third round of nuclear talks with South Korea, the United States, Japan, China and Russia scheduled to take place in Beijing June 23-26.

Washington has so far insisted Pyongyang dismantle its nuclear weapons-related programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner. Pyongyang says it will abandon nuclear weapons development in return for economic assistance and security assurances.

Former President Kim urged the two countries to end the dispute, which erupted in October 2002, and engage in direct negotiations.

"North Korea should make a decision which is acceptable to the world and the United States should guarantee the security of North Korea and open the way for it to advance into the international community," Kim said.

He also called on the North Korean leader to keep his promise that he would visit Seoul "at an appropriate time."

"The people in the South will warmly welcome (North Korea's National Defense Chairman) Kim to Seoul," said Kim Dae-jung, who won the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to inter-Korean reconciliation.

"Our people want to see the leaders of the two Koreas sit together again and discuss the cooperation, prosperity and unification of the Koreas," Kim said.

North Korean official Ri stressed that South Korea should put more weight on its relations with the North than on the half-century alliance with the United States. "The alliance is important, but the South-North relationship is more important. There is cooperation with an ally, but national cooperation is fundamental," Ri said.

During the seminar, renowned international experts pooled their wisdom on bringing about peace on the peninsula, which remains the world's last Cold War frontier.

Former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Donald Gregg also called for direct U.S. talks with North Korea on the nuclear issue.

"The longer the U.S. refuses to enter into negotiations, the higher the price becomes for transition into this new era, while the dangerous prospect of North Korea becoming a permanent nuclear power also steadily increases," he said.

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http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2004/06/16/200406160006.asp