ID :
190553
Thu, 06/23/2011 - 01:57
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/190553
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S. Korean minister urges Pyongyang to seek direct talks with Seoul
NEW YORK (Yonhap) - North Korea's unilateral revelation of a secret meeting with South Korea intended to arrange another inter-Korean summit reflects Pyongyang's diplomatic predicament as it seeks to bypass Seoul in search of direct dialogue with Washington, a top official said Wednesday.
South Korea's foreign minister, Kim Sung-hwan, called for the communist neighbor to show sincerity toward denuclearization and inter-Korean talks.
Kim arrived here on Tuesday to meet with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who was reelected to a second term. The minister is scheduled to visit Washington later this week for talks with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
"North Korea's ultimate prescription of disclosing secret contact, risking losing the international community's trust in it, means that it is in difficulty as such," Kim told South Korean correspondents based in New York.
Early this month, the North announced that high-level officials from the two Koreas had a clandestine meeting in Beijing in May at Seoul's request. The North claimed the South proposed it express some manner of regret over the sinking of the Cheonan warship and the shelling of a border island in 2010.
The North made public the names of South Korean participants, including a presidential aide and a spy agency official, and said they even offered an "envelop of cash" as a reward for setting up an inter-Korean summit.
South Korea refused formal confirmation of the North's claim.
"It is time to change the practice of hushing up (North Korea's wrongdoings) without holding it responsible," the minister said. "North Korea is still trying to resolve problems through talks with the U.S. It is not right, and the underlying principle is for the relevant parties of South and North Korea to talk to each other."
U.S. officials have emphasized the need for talks between the two Koreas before the resumption of the six-party nuclear talks.
"We've said for a long time that improved relations between North and South need to precede a decision to go back to the table, the six-party talks table," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a press briefing Tuesday.
The issue will be discussed when the top South Korean and U.S. diplomats meet in Washington on Friday, she added.
South Korea's foreign minister, Kim Sung-hwan, called for the communist neighbor to show sincerity toward denuclearization and inter-Korean talks.
Kim arrived here on Tuesday to meet with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who was reelected to a second term. The minister is scheduled to visit Washington later this week for talks with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
"North Korea's ultimate prescription of disclosing secret contact, risking losing the international community's trust in it, means that it is in difficulty as such," Kim told South Korean correspondents based in New York.
Early this month, the North announced that high-level officials from the two Koreas had a clandestine meeting in Beijing in May at Seoul's request. The North claimed the South proposed it express some manner of regret over the sinking of the Cheonan warship and the shelling of a border island in 2010.
The North made public the names of South Korean participants, including a presidential aide and a spy agency official, and said they even offered an "envelop of cash" as a reward for setting up an inter-Korean summit.
South Korea refused formal confirmation of the North's claim.
"It is time to change the practice of hushing up (North Korea's wrongdoings) without holding it responsible," the minister said. "North Korea is still trying to resolve problems through talks with the U.S. It is not right, and the underlying principle is for the relevant parties of South and North Korea to talk to each other."
U.S. officials have emphasized the need for talks between the two Koreas before the resumption of the six-party nuclear talks.
"We've said for a long time that improved relations between North and South need to precede a decision to go back to the table, the six-party talks table," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a press briefing Tuesday.
The issue will be discussed when the top South Korean and U.S. diplomats meet in Washington on Friday, she added.
