[USFK Forums] NK Delays Cabinet Talks to Protest Military Drill [Korea Times]

[C. Y. Lee]

Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Sunday, March 12, 2006

NK Delays Cabinet Talks to Protest Military Drill

The Korea Times, Sunday, March 12, 2006 17:40
By Seo Dong-shin
Staff Reporter

North Korea has decided to postpone a scheduled round of inter-Korean cabinet talks until next month to protest a joint military drill between South Korean and U.S. forces stationed here, the North Korean Central News Agency reported Saturday. The military exercise is to be held late this month.

South and North Korea originally agreed to hold the inter-Korean cabinet talks, the 18th of its kind, on March 28-31, at the last round of ministerial talks held on the South’s Cheju Island last December.

But Kwon Hu-ung, senior North Korean cabinet councilor and chief delegate to the ministerial talks, said that ``hostile war exercises and peaceful dialogue cannot go side by side.’’

Kwon made the remarks in a telephone message sent to his Southern counterpart, Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok.

South Korean and U.S. troops stationed in the South as a deterrent against possible invasion by North Korea, will hold annual training exercises on March 25-31, according to the Republic of Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command.

The springtime joint drills consist of the Reception, Staging and Onward Movement and Integration exercise (RSOI), and Foal Eagle, aimed at both training troops in defense maneuver tactics and improving combat operation capabilities. The two exercises have been conducted jointly since 2002.

The report said North Korea delayed the inter-Korean cabinet talks because of the South’s wrongful act of engaging in provocative war exercises with foreign powers. It added that the South would be held responsible for the trouble for this year’s first inter-Korean cabinet talks.

The South Korean government, however, brushed off the criticism, expressing regret over the North’s attitude.

``We think it’s a real shame the North unilaterally delays the talks the South and North had already agreed upon,’’ a Unification Ministry spokesman said.

``It is especially hard to understand why the North has cited the RSOI as a reason to delay the talks, as we have repeatedly explained to them that these exercises are a defense-oriented annual event.’’

The government urged the North to take a more sincere attitude, as efforts to keep agreements are key in building mutual trust and cooperation, the spokesman said.

The North’s balking at the inter-Korean talks that coincide with the joint military drills had been more or less expected.

But observers in the South said that the North is aware of the necessity of inter-Korean dialogue, considering pending consultations on rice and fertilization aid from the South, as well as further cooperation in light industries, for which the North is demanding materials for making shoes, soap and clothes.



saltwall@koreatimes.co.kr

03-12-2006 17:40