NORTH KOREA NEWSLETTER NO. 151 (March 31, 2011)

*** TOPIC OF THE WEEK (Part 2)

Two Koreas Agree on Need for Joint Volcano Research on Mount Paekdu

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- Experts from South and North Korea agreed during a meeting on March 29 on the need for a joint study of potential volcanic activities from a famed mountain in the North, striking a rare chord of harmony despite high tensions between their countries.
The rare talks were aimed at launching joint research projects and seminars regarding Mount Paekdu, which experts say could have an active core. The meeting, the first of its kind, was aimed at assessing the odds of a volcanic eruption at Mount Paekdu, the highest mountain on the Korean Peninsula.
The sides did not agree on a date for another round of talks even though the North insisted that they gather again in early April, a proposal the South will "quickly review," Ryu In-chang, a Kyungpook National University professor of geology, told reporters.
During the meeting of geologists from the Koreas at the western South Korean border town of Munsan, the North emphasized possible radioactive damage from Japan's nuclear crisis as well as unusual weather phenomena it has faced recently, apparently calling for joint meteorological measures.
Earlier in the day, three experts from the North and four from the South, including Ryu, huddled at a South Korean checkpoint building in Munsan that abuts the heavily armed border between the Koreas.
Mount Paekdu, a 2,744-meter-high peak deemed the origin of the Korean nation in lore, last erupted in 1903, but experts warn it may still have an active core, citing topographical signs and satellite images.
The North Korean delegation, which included three volcanologists, departed for the North after the talks at the Dorasan Customs, Immigration and Quarantine center wrapped up.
The rare inter-Korean meeting came amid heightened concerns over natural disasters as Japan is struggling to deal with the aftermath of a powerful earthquake and tsunami that took the lives of tens of thousands of people.
Pyongyang was first to propose holding talks to discuss cooperative measures over the volcanic Mount Paekdu. Seoul responded by temporarily laying aside long-running grievances for fear of another regional disaster. Pyongyang proposed the meeting in mid-March, piggybacking on rising fears of natural disasters.
The proposal also came amid signs that the two rival countries were seeking to ease tension in a bid to set the mood for the resumption of international nuclear talks on the North.
In a counterproposal later accepted by the North, South Korea downgraded the talks to a civilian level of academic nature, suspecting the cash-strapped neighbor is seeking aid.
"We conducted the discussions with sympathy for the need for future joint studies," Ryu said in a briefing following the one-day meeting that marked a rare moment of cooperation between the Koreas.
Yun Yong-gun, chief North Korean delegate, would not speak publicly either before or after the meeting, only smiling at journalists asking him questions as he left the venue.
The relations between the Koreas remain at the worst point in years after a series of incidents that claimed dozens of South Korean lives last year, including the North's bombardment of the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong in the Yellow Sea in November.
In an effort to defuse tensions, the sides held colonel-level defense talks in February but to no avail as the North continued to refuse to accept responsibility for the incidents, including the March sinking of a South Korean warship in the Yellow Sea.
Observers said the latest dialogue was the latest sign of easing tension as the sides appear to be searching for ways to resume inter-Korean and multilateral talks.
Experts have warned that an eruption at Mount Paekdu would cause political and economic chaos, even thwarting the stability of the communist regime in Pyongyang. In Europe last year, an Icelandic volcano caused massive flight disruptions, paralyzing air traffic and stymieing various political and economic activities.
Concerns over Mount Paekdu further rose after a magnitude-7.3 earthquake hit China in 2002. Some argue North Korea's nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009 have stimulated the volcanic core of the mountain.
Mount Paekdu is considered sacred by people of both Koreas. It is mentioned in South Korea's national anthem while Pyongyang claims its 69-year-old leader, Kim Jong-il, was born there, one of the most controversial elements of a personality cult surrounding him.
As experts were discussing the volcanic potential, Seoul's point man on North Korean affairs called the meeting "critical under all circumstances."
"The two Koreas are under sensitive circumstances, but discussions among experts must proceed (over Mount Paekdu)," Unification Minister Hyun In-taek said at a policy meeting.
The minister also hinted at resuming government-level talks with North Korea, urging the communist state to "show an earnest attitude for earnest dialogue."
During the talks, Yun, the head of the North Korean delegation, said Pyongyang is monitoring for signs of radiation following the nuclear crisis in Japan.
"We are actively watching, worried that radioactive contamination may reach us," he said at the talks.
The remark offered rare insight into the North's reaction to the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima plant triggered by the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami that rocked Japan on March 11.
Despite the direction of winds that normally blow from west to east, traces of radioactive material have been detected in South Korea, raising alarm, according to a nuclear safety agency here.
"Due to the proximity, (events in Japan) seem to affect us," Yun told four South Korean scholars attending the first-ever inter-Korean talks on ways to respond should a volcano erupt in the North.
Yun, the deputy head of a volcano research institute, added that underground water fluctuated by 60 centimeters and mud was found in spring water in his country after the 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the east coast of Japan.
His comments came amid speculation Pyongyang is trying to turn around the badly frayed inter-Korean ties by appealing to heightened woes over natural disasters following the Japanese quake.
Although Seoul had emphasized that the inter-Korean meeting was purely civilian, Yun hinted that North Korea's earthquake bureau is part of its cabinet and that the volcano research institute is under the earthquake bureau. The volcano research institute was established in the fall of 1996, according to the pro-North Korean newspaper, Choson Sinbo, published in Japan.