Nuclear differences overshadow inter-Korean talks

By Jon Herskovitz

SEOUL (Reuters) – North and South Korea hold ministerial
talks this week on improving cooperation, but a row in separate
multinational discussions on ending Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons
programs could overshadow the meeting.

Ties between North and South Korea have warmed in recent
months and past ministerial meetings have produced agreements
covering economic assistance, mining and humanitarian
cooperation.

This round of talks, to be held from Tuesday to Friday on
the South Korean resort island of Cheju, will focus on
finishing a rail link between the two Koreas as well as
increasing confidence-building measures between the two armies,
South Korea’s unification minister has said.

Last week, Chung Dong-young told reporters he would also
try to bring up the nuclear crisis as well as the issue of
South Korean prisoners of war and abductees still in the North.

At their previous meeting in September, North Korea said it
was willing to discuss the cases of thousands of South Koreans
who were either taken prisoner during the 1950-1953 Korean War
or were believed to have been abducted by the North.

Since that meeting, inter-Korean cooperation has remained
broadly on track, but North Korea’s relations with the United
States have soured further.

Pyongyang said last week a U.S. crackdown on its financial
assets made it impossible to resume six-country talks on
dismantling the North’s nuclear weapons programs.

A SNAG IN NUCLEAR TALKS

Washington has said it suspects North Korea of being
involved in counterfeiting, money laundering and the drug
trade, which it says have helped Pyongyang fund its nuclear
weapons programs.

North Korea has also criticized the U.S. ambassador to the
South for calling the North a “criminal regime.”

The next round of talks among the two Koreas, China, Japan,
Russia and the United States had been expected to be held in
January, sources close to the talks have said.

“Postponing the next round is inevitable in light of North
Korea’s strong position about financial sanctions,” said Kim
Sung-han, head of North America studies at Seoul’s Institute of
Foreign Affairs and National Security.

Kim said he was curious how North Korea would approach the
ministerial talks to see if it would try to form a united front
with the South on economic sanctions.

The U.S. State Department and South Korea’s Foreign
Ministry have said the crackdown on North Korean finances is a
legal matter separate from the six-party talks.

Diplomatic analysts say the Unification Ministry, which is
conducting the talks in Cheju, has taken a softer line with the
North than the Foreign Ministry in some cases.

“North Korea’s typical habit is driving a wedge between
Seoul and Washington,” Kim said. He expects North Korea
eventually to cool down on the financial sanctions, and thus
put the six-party talks back on track.

After the delegates from the North-South Korean meeting
leave Cheju, there is a possibility that top envoys from the
six countries involved in the nuclear talks could soon gather
on the same island again.

South Korea has proposed an informal meeting of six-party
chief delegates on Cheju, off the southern tip of the
peninsula.

The United States has proposed December 19 for the informal
talks, Japan’s Kyodo news agency said last week, citing
comments made by a leading Japanese politician after a meeting
in Washington with the State Department’s head of Korean
affairs. This is yet to be confirmed.

(With additional reporting by Lee Jin-joo)