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NKorea holds US talks, moves to ease border restrictions
Seoul (AFP) Aug 21, 2009 North Korea announced on Thursday it was scrapping tough border restrictions it had imposed on South Korean travellers, the latest in a series of conciliatory moves after months of hostility. Pyongyang's diplomats meanwhile held talks in the United States and the communist North announced it is sending a high-level delegation to Seoul to mourn former South Korean president Kim Dae-Jung. The North's military said it will as of Friday remove the cross-border restrictions it imposed last December as relations with Seoul soured, according to the South's unification ministry. North Korea also promised temporarily to restore a telephone hotline manned by the Red Cross which the neighbours used before it was axed last November. And in a message late Thursday to South Korean firms in the Kaesong joint industrial estate north of the border, the North said it would reopen a cross-border railway as of Friday, according to Yonhap news agency. Official media in the nuclear-armed North said Kim Ki-Nam, a secretary of its ruling communist party, would head a team that will visit Seoul to pay tribute to ex-president Kim Dae-Jung, who died Tuesday aged 85. In New Mexico, diplomats from the North's United Nations mission held talks with state Governor Bill Richardson, a veteran of negotiations with Pyongyang in the 1990s. Richardson said Wednesday they had "productive" discussions. "The delegation indicated that North Korea is ready for a new dialogue with the United States regarding the nuclear issue," he said in a statement half-way through two days of talks. But Richardson said Pyongyang clearly wants bilateral discussions on nuclear disarmament and not six-party talks which also include South Korea, China, Japan and Russia. The US government, which says it is not involved in the New Mexico meeting, affirmed its stance Thursday that it is open to bilateral talks with the North Koreans, but only within the framework of the six-nation talks. The North quit the six-nation forum in April and vowed to restart its nuclear weapons programme in April after the UN Security Council censured its long-range rocket launch. It staged its second nuclear test on May 25, incurring fresh UN sanctions. As Washington works to enforce the sanctions, Pyongyang this month has attempted to mend fences both with the United States and US ally South Korea. Leader Kim Jong-Il pardoned two American journalists after former president Bill Clinton flew to Pyongyang, last week the North freed a detained South Korean and on Monday it announced willingness to restart tourist trips and family reunions for South Koreans. The apparent thaw comes after the North engaged in months of sabre-rattling. US and South Korean officials said they believed the ailing Kim, 67, was staging a show of strength as he sought to put a succession plan into place. The reason for the sudden change of heart was unclear. The US State Department suggested this week the regime may be under economic or political pressure. Leader Kim is sending a personal wreath with the six-member delegation due to arrive in Seoul Friday afternoon to pay respects to Kim Dae-Jung. It will depart Saturday and will not attend Sunday's state funeral. Kim was a former democracy activist who held the first-ever inter-Korean summit in 2000 during his 1998-2003 presidency. He pioneered a "Sunshine" aid and engagement policy with the North but this failed to curb its nuclear ambitions. Seoul officials said the delegation would also include Kim Yang-Gon, a party official in charge of inter-Korean affairs. Both he and Kim Ki-Nam are close aides to the leader. The unification ministry said there were no plans so far for any political talks but one analyst said a secret contact was likely. "Chances are high that the two governments will try to hold meaningful talks during the delegation's stay in the South," said Kim Yong-Hyun of Seoul's Dongguk University. "This is a rare opportunity. ... They must make the best of it to break the impasse in inter-Korean relations." The North is bitterly hostile to current conservative President Lee Myung-Bak, who rolled back the "Sunshine" policy, and Pyongyang has cut virtually all official contacts with the South. Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com All about missiles at SpaceWar.com Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
SKorea weighs NKorea tour offer for possible sanctions breachSeoul (AFP) Aug 18, 2009 In a cautious response to North Korea's surprise offer to restart cross-border tours, South Korea is trying to decide whether income from the trips would breach UN sanctions, an official said Tuesday. The communist state, sanctioned for its missile launches and nuclear tests, announced Monday it reached agreement with a visiting Seoul business leader to restart tours which have earned it ... read more |
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