SEOUL: South Korea and North agreed in principle yesterday to hold their first official talks for years, signalling a possible breakthrough in cross-border ties after months of escalated military tensions.
A surprise offer from Pyongyang proposed talks on commercial and humanitarian issues, from reopening a joint industrial complex to resuming cross-border family reunions.
In a reply, South Korea called for minister-level talks on June 12 in Seoul, and urged the North to reopen severed communications channels for working-level discussions from yesterday.
“I hope... dialogue will provide a momentum for South and North Korea to improve relations based on mutual trust,” South Korea’s Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-Jae said.
“China is happy and welcomes that (North and South Korea) agreed to resume their engagement and dialogue,” said foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei.
Official contacts between Seoul and Pyongyang have been frozen since South Korea accused the North of torpedoing one of its warships in March 2010 with the loss of 46 lives.
April and May this year saw tensions soar to worrying levels as the North, angered by South-US military drills and UN sanctions after its nuclear test in February, threatened pre-emptive nuclear strikes.
The situation has calmed in recent weeks, with both sides circling around the idea of opening dialogue. The North’s proposal said the venue and date for talks “can be set to the convenience of the South side”.
Initial subjects would be the Kaesong joint industrial zone, closed at the height of the tensions, and the resumption of cross-border tours to the North’s Mount Kumgang resort.
Humanitarian issues such as reuniting family members separated after the 1950-53 Korean War could be discussed.
South Korean President Park Geun-Hye said: “I hope this will serve as a momentum for South and North Korea to solve various pending issues... through dialogue and build trust.”
South Korea had offered working-level talks on Kaesong and Seoul is likely to be wary of agreeing to a much wider-ranging agenda.
While Park has spoken of the need for dialogue, she has made it clear — with US backing — that substantive talks would require the North to show commitment to abandoning its nuclear weapons programme.
Pyongyang has insisted that its nuclear deterrent is not up for negotiation. The Kaesong complex, established in North Korea in 2004, was the most high-profile casualty of the recent tensions. Thousands of family members were separated by the Korean War, and the last temporary reunions took place in 2010.
Nearly 80,000 people in the South are on the waiting list for reunions should they resume.
In another development, Seoul rejected as “absurd and groundless” North Korean accusations that it lured, kidnapped and brainwashed nine young refugees who were repatriated forcibly from Laos to their poverty-stricken communist homeland. The UN and human rights groups have warned Pyongyang that it would be held responsible for the safety of the refugees aged between 14 and 18.
North’s state broadcaster has begun providing live streams of selected programming, including news bulletins, on its official Facebook page. The move marks a further step by the reclusive state to develop its Internet presence and use of social networks to disseminate state-approved propaganda. Agencies
