Korean states reach tentative agreement
The two Koreas, wrapping up their first face-to-face talks in 10 months, reached a three-point agreement today that did not mention the impasse over Pyongyang’s worrisome nuclear programme, according to a joint statement.
The statement said the two sides “agreed to actively improve North-South Korea relations, and to make joint efforts for the peace on the Korean Peninsula”.
It said a follow-up cabinet-level meeting would be held between June 21 and 24 in Seoul and that South Korea would begin providing 200,000 tons of fertiliser to the North starting on May 21.
Seoul also will send a delegation, led by a government minister, to Pyongyang for the June 15 fifth anniversary of a historic summit between the two rivals.
The Cabinet-level meeting was a minor victory for South Korea, which had proposed it. The North agreed in principle early in the talks but had been reticent to set a date. The nuclear issue undoubtedly would be back on the agenda then.
South Korean media said Unification Minister Chung Dong-young was expected to lead the delegation to the anniversary celebrations in Pyongyang next month, and that there was a possibility that he would visit North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.
“For this event to take place in an atmosphere of reconciliation and co-operation, both sides agreed to actively co-operate and … hold working-level talks,” the statement said.
The agreement came hours after word emerged of a secret meeting last week between US and North Korean officials.
The focus of both efforts was to get Pyongyang to rejoin six-nation negotiations on denuclearisation, but the reclusive communist country – which regularly uses brinkmanship to wring aid from the West – stood firm in resisting any public commitment.
While Seoul had pressed to get some mention of the nuclear issue in a final joint statement at the talks in the North Korean border town of Kaesong, it also was working to salvage some goodwill as the North resisted any commitment on returning to the nuclear bargaining table, saying that normalising strained relations was the top priority.
South Korea has found itself walking a tightrope during the talks, trying to appease domestic pressure for some improvement in relations with the North, while international allies – including Washington – pressed for action on the nuclear issue.
Seoul had earlier agreed to provide fertiliser, as it has in recent years to help alleviate widespread famine in the reclusive communist country. The North earlier this year asked for 500,000 tons.
