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Nuclear differences overshadow inter-Korean talks

Posted on: Sunday, 11 December 2005, 23:41 CST

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)

Source: REUTERS

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