ID :
77215
Thu, 08/27/2009 - 11:40
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/77215
The shortlink copeid
Family reunions to be 'watershed' in inter-Korean relations: pro-N.K. report
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Aug. 27 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is determined to break the impasse in cross-border ties and envisioned reunions of separated families will be a "watershed" in improving relations with the South, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper in Japan said Thursday.
The Choson Sinbo, which generally conveys North Korea's perspective to foreign
readers, expected the ongoing inter-Korean talks at the North's Mount Kumgang
resort to successfully set up a new round of family reunions, the first in nearly
two years.
The reunions "will be a new watershed in improving inter-Korean relations and the
first step toward implementing historic inter-Korean declarations since the Lee
Myung-bak government's inauguration," the report, published in Korean and
Japanese, quoted a North Korean delegate to the talks as saying.
The delegate was referring to the inter-Korean reconciliatory summit accords
reached between Lee's liberal predecessors and the North Korean leader in 2000
and 2007.
On Wednesday, the first day of the three-day Red Cross talks, South and North
Korea agreed in principle that family reunions be held around the Chuseok
holiday, which falls on Oct. 3, at the seaside Mount Kumgang resort. Specific
dates and venues were yet to be set, but Seoul officials largely expected the
differences would be narrowed.
Reunions of the families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War began in 2000 as an
outcome of the first summit but were suspended by North Korea after President Lee
Myung-bak came to power in Seoul last year, linking inter-Korean aid and
exchanges to North Korea's denuclearization.
Taking Lee's policy as hostile, North Korea cut off dialogue and threatened an
armed clash. In spring this year, Pyongyang further strained ties by launching a
long-range rocket -- widely believed to be a ballistic missile test -- and
setting off a second nuclear device.
Earlier this month, the North changed its tone. Former U.S. President Bill
Clinton traveled to Pyongyang on Aug. 4 to hold lengthy talks with North Korean
leader Kim Jong-il and win the release of two detained American journalists. The
following week, Kim invited Hyun Jeong-eun, chairwoman of South Korea's Hyundai
Group -- a major investor in the North -- to seal an accord to resume
inter-Korean projects, including the family reunions.
"The North is participating in the talks with an active attitude," the report
said. "With the (North Korean) supreme leader's resolution in August this year, a
breakthrough has been made in the inter-Korean stalemate."
The report also noted that Kim Jong-il sent a "special envoy group" to Seoul last
week to pay respects to late former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, his
summit counterpart in 2000. In a verbal message to Lee delivered through the
envoys, Kim Jong-il wished for "progress in inter-Korean cooperation."
About 600,000 South Koreans are believed to have relatives north of the border.
South and North Koreans cannot exchange phone calls or mail as the war ended in
an armistice, not a formal peace treaty, leaving their nations technically at
war.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
SEOUL, Aug. 27 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is determined to break the impasse in cross-border ties and envisioned reunions of separated families will be a "watershed" in improving relations with the South, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper in Japan said Thursday.
The Choson Sinbo, which generally conveys North Korea's perspective to foreign
readers, expected the ongoing inter-Korean talks at the North's Mount Kumgang
resort to successfully set up a new round of family reunions, the first in nearly
two years.
The reunions "will be a new watershed in improving inter-Korean relations and the
first step toward implementing historic inter-Korean declarations since the Lee
Myung-bak government's inauguration," the report, published in Korean and
Japanese, quoted a North Korean delegate to the talks as saying.
The delegate was referring to the inter-Korean reconciliatory summit accords
reached between Lee's liberal predecessors and the North Korean leader in 2000
and 2007.
On Wednesday, the first day of the three-day Red Cross talks, South and North
Korea agreed in principle that family reunions be held around the Chuseok
holiday, which falls on Oct. 3, at the seaside Mount Kumgang resort. Specific
dates and venues were yet to be set, but Seoul officials largely expected the
differences would be narrowed.
Reunions of the families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War began in 2000 as an
outcome of the first summit but were suspended by North Korea after President Lee
Myung-bak came to power in Seoul last year, linking inter-Korean aid and
exchanges to North Korea's denuclearization.
Taking Lee's policy as hostile, North Korea cut off dialogue and threatened an
armed clash. In spring this year, Pyongyang further strained ties by launching a
long-range rocket -- widely believed to be a ballistic missile test -- and
setting off a second nuclear device.
Earlier this month, the North changed its tone. Former U.S. President Bill
Clinton traveled to Pyongyang on Aug. 4 to hold lengthy talks with North Korean
leader Kim Jong-il and win the release of two detained American journalists. The
following week, Kim invited Hyun Jeong-eun, chairwoman of South Korea's Hyundai
Group -- a major investor in the North -- to seal an accord to resume
inter-Korean projects, including the family reunions.
"The North is participating in the talks with an active attitude," the report
said. "With the (North Korean) supreme leader's resolution in August this year, a
breakthrough has been made in the inter-Korean stalemate."
The report also noted that Kim Jong-il sent a "special envoy group" to Seoul last
week to pay respects to late former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, his
summit counterpart in 2000. In a verbal message to Lee delivered through the
envoys, Kim Jong-il wished for "progress in inter-Korean cooperation."
About 600,000 South Koreans are believed to have relatives north of the border.
South and North Koreans cannot exchange phone calls or mail as the war ended in
an armistice, not a formal peace treaty, leaving their nations technically at
war.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
