ID :
186033
Thu, 06/02/2011 - 10:49
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/186033
The shortlink copeid
S. Korea admits it held secret talks with N. Korea
SEOUL, June 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea admitted Thursday it held secret talks with North Korea last month, but denied the purpose was to arrange summit meetings between the sides, rebuffing Pyongyang's claims it was "begged" to accept the plan.
Unification Minister Hyun In-taek, Seoul's pointman on North Korea, was responding to lawmakers' questions at the National Assembly in Seoul one day after the North's powerful National Defense Commission revealed what it said was discussed at secret meetings with the South from May 9.
The commission, headed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, said in a commentary carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency that Seoul proposed holding three summit meetings between late June and March next year. It also claimed Seoul suggested holding Cabinet-level talks in late May to lay the groundwork for the summit talks.
"North Korea says our government made secret contact for the purpose of arranging summit meetings, but that's putting the cart before the horse," Hyun said.
"Our position is that inter-Korean relations can move forward only if North Korea takes responsibility for, apologizes for, and promises never to repeat such actions as the sinking of the Cheonan and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island. Only then will we be able to have dialogue, and these were (the responses) we were aiming for at the secret meetings."
Inter-Korean relations have been tense since the South Korean warship went down in March last year in a torpedo attack blamed on the North. In November, North Korea bombarded the South Korean border island of Yeonpyeong, bringing the total death toll from the two attacks to 50.
The minister flatly denied allegations that South Korea's Lee Myung-bak administration was seeking a breakthrough ahead of next year's general and presidential elections.
"We do not make secret contact with North Korea with political motivations or purposes," he said, adding that the North's disclosure violates the basics of inter-Korean relations.
The two countries remain technically in a state of war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
hague@yna.co.kr