Manu
07-30-2002, 06:43 PM
SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- The two Koreas are heading to the negotiating table in an apparent breakthrough after months of frozen relations between the bitter neighbours.
South Korea's Unification Ministry says it will send a working-level delegation to North Korea's Mount Kumgang this weekend, accepting a proposal from Pyongyang to resume dialogue which accompanied a message of regret from the North over a deadly naval clash last month.
Moves to get North Korea involved in talks with the South as well as the United States stalled after a June 29 sea battle that left five South Korean and at least 12 North Korean sailors dead.
Pyongyang initially blamed the South for firing first but in a surprise move last week, North Korea issued an apology to Seoul over the Yellow Sea incident. (Full story)
A breakthrough in relations with the North came on Sunday during Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov's visit to Pyongyang, where he was meeting with North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il.
Ivanov says North Korea also plans to hold talks with Japan, despite the lack of diplomatic ties.
The North-South talks could follow a series of meetings this week on the sidelines of the ASEAN forum already underway in Brunei. There, North Korean officials are expected to seize the chance to meet with U.S. and Japanese officials.
Japan set, U.S. undecided
RESOURCES
IN-DEPTH: Tensions on the Korean Peninsula
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Japan's Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi says she'll meet with her North Korean counterpart in Brunei.
But U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said he had yet to decide whether to meet with North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam-sun in Brunei.
"I haven't made a decision yet with respect to my North Korean counterpart. I'll make a judgment on that after we get to Brunei," Powell told a news conference in Malaysia.
However, White House National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack has reiterated that Washington is ready for serious, comprehensive talks if Pyongyang is too.
"As the president has said before, we are prepared for serious and comprehensive talks if Pyongyang is also prepared."
At last year's ASEAN regional forum meeting in Vietnam, North Korea sent a lower-level diplomat.
Powell shocked the diplomat when he approached him, shook his hand, and told him the United States was ready to resume discussions at anytime, any place, with no limitation on subjects, State Department officials have said.
In June, the United States proposed sending James Kelley, the assistant secretary of state for Near East Asia, to Pyongyang -- but the naval clash forced the United States to withdraw its offer.
Kim Ryong Song, the North Korea official responsible for negotiations with South Korea, also called for resuming cabinet-level talks in an attempt to move toward reconciling the two Koreas more than 50 years after the Korean war ended in an armistice.
Peace overtures
In October 2000, then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright became the highest-ranking American official to travel to Pyongyang since the Korean war ended in 1953.
During her visit, Albright met with reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong Il who, U.S. officials say, signaled he was ready to discuss freezing North Korean missile exports, production and testing in exchange for resuming diplomatic relations between the two sides, among other things.
Seoul and Pyongyang remain technically at war because they never signed a peace treaty after their 1950-53 war, which killed millions on each side.
The announcement is a boost for South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, who is a key proponent of engaging with the North, and has pursued his so-called "Sunshine Policy."
A landmark summit in June 2000 between the two Korean leaders led to a flurry of projects, including restoring railroad links and family exchanges.
But Pyongyang called off planned economic talks early in May, partly because of tension with the United States.
The United States this year dented ties with North Korea, after President George W. Bush called the isolationist state part of an "axis of evil" along with Iran and Iraq.
www.cnn.com
South Korea's Unification Ministry says it will send a working-level delegation to North Korea's Mount Kumgang this weekend, accepting a proposal from Pyongyang to resume dialogue which accompanied a message of regret from the North over a deadly naval clash last month.
Moves to get North Korea involved in talks with the South as well as the United States stalled after a June 29 sea battle that left five South Korean and at least 12 North Korean sailors dead.
Pyongyang initially blamed the South for firing first but in a surprise move last week, North Korea issued an apology to Seoul over the Yellow Sea incident. (Full story)
A breakthrough in relations with the North came on Sunday during Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov's visit to Pyongyang, where he was meeting with North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il.
Ivanov says North Korea also plans to hold talks with Japan, despite the lack of diplomatic ties.
The North-South talks could follow a series of meetings this week on the sidelines of the ASEAN forum already underway in Brunei. There, North Korean officials are expected to seize the chance to meet with U.S. and Japanese officials.
Japan set, U.S. undecided
RESOURCES
IN-DEPTH: Tensions on the Korean Peninsula
CNN.com Asia
More news from our
Asia edition
Japan's Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi says she'll meet with her North Korean counterpart in Brunei.
But U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said he had yet to decide whether to meet with North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam-sun in Brunei.
"I haven't made a decision yet with respect to my North Korean counterpart. I'll make a judgment on that after we get to Brunei," Powell told a news conference in Malaysia.
However, White House National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack has reiterated that Washington is ready for serious, comprehensive talks if Pyongyang is too.
"As the president has said before, we are prepared for serious and comprehensive talks if Pyongyang is also prepared."
At last year's ASEAN regional forum meeting in Vietnam, North Korea sent a lower-level diplomat.
Powell shocked the diplomat when he approached him, shook his hand, and told him the United States was ready to resume discussions at anytime, any place, with no limitation on subjects, State Department officials have said.
In June, the United States proposed sending James Kelley, the assistant secretary of state for Near East Asia, to Pyongyang -- but the naval clash forced the United States to withdraw its offer.
Kim Ryong Song, the North Korea official responsible for negotiations with South Korea, also called for resuming cabinet-level talks in an attempt to move toward reconciling the two Koreas more than 50 years after the Korean war ended in an armistice.
Peace overtures
In October 2000, then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright became the highest-ranking American official to travel to Pyongyang since the Korean war ended in 1953.
During her visit, Albright met with reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong Il who, U.S. officials say, signaled he was ready to discuss freezing North Korean missile exports, production and testing in exchange for resuming diplomatic relations between the two sides, among other things.
Seoul and Pyongyang remain technically at war because they never signed a peace treaty after their 1950-53 war, which killed millions on each side.
The announcement is a boost for South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, who is a key proponent of engaging with the North, and has pursued his so-called "Sunshine Policy."
A landmark summit in June 2000 between the two Korean leaders led to a flurry of projects, including restoring railroad links and family exchanges.
But Pyongyang called off planned economic talks early in May, partly because of tension with the United States.
The United States this year dented ties with North Korea, after President George W. Bush called the isolationist state part of an "axis of evil" along with Iran and Iraq.
www.cnn.com