[USFK Forums] Inter-Korean ministerial talks on Jeju Island [Korea Herald]

[C. Y. Lee]

[Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Tuesday, December 13, 2005] Please note "Jeju' is spelled as "Cheju" by the Korea Times as you know:
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The Korea Herald, Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Inter-Korean ministerial talks open on Jeju Island

Four-day meeting to focus on giving North `impetus` to return to negotiation table on disarmament

The two Koreas will begin ministerial talks on Jeju Island today to discuss pending issues amid dimming prospects for the resumption of the six-party talks on North Korea`s nuclear standoff.

The four-day dialogue will focus on giving the North an "impetus" to return to the negotiation table to be also attended by the United States, China, Japan and Russia, following North Korea`s repeated threats to hold off the nuclear negotiations due to hostilities from the United States.

The six-party talks hosted by Beijing have been in recess since last month.

"As we have hammered out various measures to carry out the 9.19 Joint Statement, we will deliver our standpoints on the North`s nuclear program to the North during the ministerial talks," said Kim Chun-sig, spokesman of the South`s delegates and the director of inter-Korean exchanges at the ministry. He declined to elaborate on specific measures that the South hopes to raise.

The Stalinist state committed to abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs in exchange for security guarantees and aid during Beijing talks in September. The last round of six-party talks recessed last month with no date set for the next phase of the talks.

Kim said the South delegation, led by Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, will re-open general-level military talks, about South Korean prisoners of war and civilian abductees believed to be living in the North.

"(South and North Korea) agreed to hold the general-level talks, but these have not happened yet," Kim told the reporters. "There are various ways to suppress the North for the military talks. I think it is possible to be held before end of this year."

At the last round of ministerial talks in Pyongyang in September, both nations agreed to continue consultations on the fate of those reported missing during the Korean War and settle it at the inter-Korean Red Cross talks.

[color=DarkRed]"I will know the date for the South-North Red Cross talks as we bring it up for discussion," Kim said. "But we`ll try to solve rationally on the matter of the civilian abductees in the North, which the North has principally refused to consult on. We will make a strong remark."

In September, the two Koreas agreed to push forward to settle the issue of separated families and relatives and other humanitarian actions.

The talks on Jeju Island will review overall progress since the first ministerial talks in 2000 and discuss the ways to carry out halted but agreed matters like running a test trial of the two railways in the North, Kim said. Both sides established the western Gyeongui Line connecting Seoul with Pyongyang and the eastern Donghae Line leading to North Korea`s scenic Mount Geumgang, and agreed to run a test trial by the end of October and officially open it by the end of this year.

For the peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, the two Koreas have agreed to make positive efforts to ensure lasting peace and seek practical ways to stop hostile military actions in accord at the historic inter-Korean summit on June 15, 2000.

Kim said the South will also possibly propose a new agenda to bring about indefinite peace on the divided peninsula during the high-level talks with the North.

"We will try to promote the common interests and prosperity of the peninsula," Kim said.

He said both sides will have in-depth discussions on taking practical measures to end the hostile relations that have continued since the end of 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with a truce rather than a peace treaty.



(aibang@heraldm.com)


By Annie I. Bang




2005.12.13