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catman
Joined: 18 Jul 2004
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 Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 8:08 pm Post subject: SKorea signals firmer line with NKorea |
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South Korea's new conservative government Wednesday signalled a firmer line with North Korea, saying it must scrap all its nuclear programmes to secure better relations and long-term economic aid.
"The speed and scope of, as well as ways to push for any development in, inter-Korean relations will be decided according to progress in the North Korean nuclear issue," said Unification Minister Kim Ha-Joong.
Seoul would no longer hesitate to raise the nuclear issue in talks with its communist neighbour, Kim said in his first briefing to President Lee Myung-Bak.
Critics accused Lee's two liberal predecessors of making too many concessions to the North in the name of reconciliation.
Kim, quoted by Yonhap news agency, acknowledged the criticism. "Now the ministry is going to change with a new resolution and attitude," he said.
A six-nation nuclear disarmament deal is stalled by a dispute over the North's promised declaration of all its nuclear programmes.
The North, which staged an atomic weapons test in October 2006, says it submitted the list last November. The United States says it has not accounted fully for a suspected uranium enrichment programme and allegations of nuclear proliferation to Syria.
The negotiations group the two Koreas, the US, China, Russia and Japan.
Kim, whose ministry handles inter-Korean relations, said Seoul would not agree on any joint economic programme if it was unlikely to receive public consent and produce a tangible result.
He did not specify whether multi-billion dollar projects agreed at a summit last October would go ahead, but Lee has previously promised to review them.
Lee's predecessor Roh Moo-Hyun has said he did not stress denuclearisation at the summit since the issue was being dealt with at six-party level.
Kim and Lee also pledged to prioritise the return of South Koreans kidnapped by the North, along with reunions of separated families.
Lee said the North would fail to stabilise its regime and ease economic difficulties unless it abandoned its nuclear ambitions.
He reiterated that humanitarian aid to the North, which faces a severe food shortage, would continue regardless of nuclear progress.
But he repeated demands that it resolve the problems associated with South Korean prisoners of war, abductees and separated families.
The president said existing joint projects, such as the Seoul-funded Mount Kumgang resort and the Kaesong industrial park, should continue. But he indicated that longer-term aid to rescue the North's crumbling economy depended on full denuclearisation.
"When such pending (nuclear) issues are settled through international cooperation, we are prepared to cooperate with the North."
Seoul says 485 South Koreans, mostly fishermen, were seized in the Cold War decades following the 1950-1953 Korean conflict and more than 500 prisoners of war were never sent home in 1953.
But it has previously been reluctant to make a major issue of the kidnappings. North Korea denies holding any South Koreans against their will.
Kim also promised to cooperate with the international community and rights groups to improve North Korea's human rights record.
Media reports said South Korea would support a resolution criticising the North's record at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva this week.
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catman
Joined: 18 Jul 2004
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| Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 8:11 pm Post subject: |
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More trouble in paradise....
NKorea expels SKoreans from joint industrial park: ministry
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SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea early Thursday expelled most South Korean officials from a joint industrial park just north of the border, Seoul's unification ministry said.
The expulsions were in protest at comments by a South Korean minister linking expansion of the complex to North Korea's denuclearisation, said a spokesman for the ministry which handles relations with the communist state.
He said the Seoul government withdrew 11 out of its 13 officials residing at a joint office in the Kaesong complex at about 3:00 am Thursday (1800 GMT Wednesday) after the North demanded the withdrawal of all the officials.
Only two South Korean officials in charge of maintenance remain there.
The unification ministry in a statement expressed "deep regret" at the expulsions and urged the North to normalise economic exchanges as soon as possible.
The Seoul-funded Kaesong complex was set up after a historic 2000 summit between the two historic enemies. It is the most important joint project and most visible symbol of reconciliation.
Some 20,000 North Korean workers earning about 60 dollars a month produce light industrial goods for a variety of South Korean firms.
South Korea's new conservative government has promised to take a tougher line with the North after a decade-long "sunshine" engagement policy under liberal presidents.
Last week Unification Minister Kim Ha-Joong said Kaesong would not be expanded unless progress was made in scrapping the North's nuclear programme.
North Korea last year signed a six-nation deal to abandon its nuclear weapons but the process is deadlocked.
Kim also urged North Korea to provide freer communications, allow freer movement of people and improve customs clearance for firms in Kaesong.
On Wednesday Kim said improvements in bilateral relations "will be decided according to progress in the North Korean nuclear issue."
He and President Lee Myung-Bak also said they would prioritise efforts to return South Koreans kidnapped by the North, along with reunions of separated families.
Lee has said he will not shy away from pressing the North to improve its widely criticised human rights record. Media reports say South Korea will support a resolution criticising the North's record at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva this week.
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