Koreans celebrate summit anniversary
North and South Korean officials today pledged to cooperate and pursue eventual unification as they celebrated the fifth anniversary of a summit between their leaders under the shadow of the international stand-off over the North’s nuclear ambitions.
The celebrations in the North’s capital mark the June 15, 2000 joint declaration of the unprecedented meeting between North Korea’s Kim Jong Il and then-South Korean President Kim Dae-jung in Pyongyang – the first and only such talks since the Korean War ended in a 1953 ceasefire.
At a dinner, the head of the South’s government delegation to Pyongyang for the events called for an end to any remaining hostility between the sides.
“We should now get rid of the ideological and military confrontations and the Cold War structure of mistrust and drift that still exist on the Korean Peninsula as soon as possible,” Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said.
“Let the South and the North completely end threatening each other and trust and respect each other.”
North Korea’s Premier Pak Pong Ju said each government should carry out its “duty and responsibility” to realise Korean reunification.
Chung is scheduled to meet Kim Yong Nam, the North’s ceremonial head of state, tomorrow.
South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said today in Seoul that the delegation in Pyongyang would seek to “actively persuade” the North to return to the stalled international nuclear talks.
But the many obstacles to meeting the commitments made at the 2000 summit show both Koreas’ goal of unification remains a far-off dream.
The latest crisis over North Korea’s nuclear ambitions that erupted in late 2002 has hampered the cooperation envisioned between the two Koreas after the 2000 summit.
Although some joint economic projects continue, Seoul has said any larger plans will have to wait until the nuclear standoff is resolved.
North Korea has boycotted six-nation talks – which include China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the US – for nearly a year, citing “hostile” US policies.
