N. Koreans tie progress on reunion
talks to lifting of South's military alert
By Jim Lea, Osan bureau chief
The Korean peace process was thrown into further jeopardy Saturday.
Pyongyang told Seoul that the North will not agree to further reunions of families
separated by the Korean War until a South Korean military alert is lifted.
The demand came during the second day of ministerial-level talks at the North’s
Mount Kumgang resort, just north of the Demilitarized Zone. Saturday’s session lasted
only 40 minutes, half as long as Friday’s initial session, a Unification Ministry
spokesman in Seoul said.
The South’s military alert was called after the Sept. 11 attacks in the United
States, and Seoul repeatedly told Pyong-yang it is aimed only at guarding against
terrorist action.
Pyongyang officials contend the alert is aimed at the North. The North abruptly
canceled October family reunions because of the alert.
Rescheduling the reunions is the South’s most important goal in the current
conference. It also seeks to discuss restoring rail service between the two countries,
building cross-border highways at the western and eastern ends of the DMZ, and economic
cooperation with Pyongyang.
The North’s stand makes it appear none of those issues could be discussed at least
until Sunday, if at all. The talks are scheduled to end Monday.
There also has been no progress made in another important matter: a meeting between its
delegation chief, Unification Minister Hong Soon-young, and North Korean leader Kim Jong
Il. The goal would be to persuade Kim to set a date for a visit to the South that he
promised during last year’s Inter-Korean Summit.
The South considers that to be a key to unraveling the 50 years of bitterness
separating the Koreas. No meetings have been scheduled.
Meanwhile, the Texas-based intelligence-gathering firm, Stratfor, issued an analysis
three weeks ago about the North. Stratfor said the Japan Red Army’s recent removal
from a U.S. list of international terrorist organizations may have given the North the
impression that Washington wanted to reopen talks. Pyongyang is hoping to be removed from
the U.S. list of states that sponsor terrorism.
Washington said expelling Japan Red Army terrorists is a step toward being removed from
the state-sponsored terrorism list. Pyongyang has harbored the terrorists for 31 years.
Removing the JRA from the terrorist list, the analysis said, could have made Pyongyang
decide to give only lip service to reconciliation with the South and instead focus on
being removed from the terrorism-sponsor list. Being removed from the list — which it
has been on for 14 years — would free the North from sanctions that prevent it from
receiving international loans to meet economic hardships.
Other analysts agree.
"That certainly could be its aim," said Gerald Lee, who heads the
conservative think tank The Foundation for National Strategy and Cultural Studies.
"Pyongyang is more interested in talking to Washington than to Seoul, albeit on its
own terms."
The United States has been trying to restart dialogue with Pyongyang since June.
That dialogue, which was warming during the final days of the Clinton administration,
came to an abrupt halt in January when President Bush was inaugurated and launched a
comprehensive review of U.S. policy toward Pyongyang.
Last week, U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Thomas Hubbard reiterated that Washington
wants to reopen talks with Pyongyang and is ready to do so "any time, any place and
without preconditions."
Back to November stories
Page Two news roundup
Stories from October, 2001
Stories from September, 2001
Stories from August, 2001
Stories from July, 2001
Stories from June, 2001
Stories from May, 2001
Stories from April, 2001
Stories from March, 2001
Stories from February,2001
Stories from January, 2001
Stories from December, 2000
Stories from November, 2000
Stories from October, 2000
Stories from August and September, 2000
Stories from June and July, 2000
Home |
