N. Korea slams South for enlisting
U.S. support in reunification efforts
By Jim Lea, Osan bureau chief
North Korea chastised Seoul on Friday for seeking U.S. support in reconciling the two
Koreas.
The North said Seoul’s request was "just short of negating the basic
spirit" of a Joint Declaration signed last year between Seoul and Pyongyang.
The North’s statement also criticized South Korean President Kim Dae-jung for
meeting last month with President Bush. It was the first time in more than a year
Pyongyang criticized Kim.
Kim and Bush met during last month’s Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in
Shanghai.
Kim asked Bush to help persuade Pyongyang to improve discussions with Seoul on
reconciliation and eventual unification.
The rebuke came Friday in Pyongyang’s opening remarks to the sixth inter-Korean
ministerial talks by senior delegate Kim Ryong Song. The speech was published by the
state-operated Korean Central News Agency.
The Joint Declaration the delegate referred to was issued in June 2000 in Pyongyang.
The declaration says reconciliation of the two Koreas and unification of the peninsula
will be decided by Seoul and Pyongyang without outside interference.
The North Korean delegate said the South "sent a delegation abroad on a mission to
ask someone to lead the North to ‘reform’ and ‘opening.’ This is an
intolerable grave challenge to the North as this behavior totally ignores the joint
declaration [and] defames the dignity of the North and its system."
He said that there has been no change in Pyongyang’s position of implementing
points made in the declaration "at an early date and settle the issues through
dialogue."
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