South and North Korea to Meet for First Time in Four Years
April 7, 1998 - 0:0
SEOUL Seoul expressed optimism Monday that for the first time in four years the two Koreas will finally sit down for face to face talks, although they have yet to agree on a venue. The South wants the talks Saturday in the truce village of Panmunjom, while the North has proposed Beijing. We are hopeful (the talks) will pave the way for us to settle bilateral issues among ourselves, Unification Minister Kang in-Duk told reporters.
Kang was speaking after Seoul sent a hotline telephone message across the demilitarized zone (DMZ) which divides the two Koreas, accepting a call by Pyongyang for high-level talks on April 11. But instead of Beijing as proposed by the North, South Korea suggested the venue be changed to the truce village of Panmunjom in the DMZ, or anywhere else on the Korean peninsula.
Right now, we shouldn't speculate, Kang said when asked if there was a possibility the talks could be cancelled or delayed because of the venue difference. Our basic position is that the talks be held in Panmunjom or in the Korean peninsula. Why hold them abroad? but we will decide after receiving a response from North Korea, he said. The meeting if it goes ahead will be the first official government-to-government contact between the two warring Koreas since ties were cut in July 1994 after the death of North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung. It will also be the first under the newly-elected South Korean government of President Kim Dae-Jung, who has said he is against any German-style absorption of the North by the South, and a strict separation of politics from economic contacts.
Kim, who on Sunday said of course we will attend (the talks), has placed priority on uniting the millions of family members divided by the 1950-53 Korean War, in what he calls his sunshine policy towards North Korea, which is fighting a grim losing battle against devastating famine. (AFP)
Kang was speaking after Seoul sent a hotline telephone message across the demilitarized zone (DMZ) which divides the two Koreas, accepting a call by Pyongyang for high-level talks on April 11. But instead of Beijing as proposed by the North, South Korea suggested the venue be changed to the truce village of Panmunjom in the DMZ, or anywhere else on the Korean peninsula.
Right now, we shouldn't speculate, Kang said when asked if there was a possibility the talks could be cancelled or delayed because of the venue difference. Our basic position is that the talks be held in Panmunjom or in the Korean peninsula. Why hold them abroad? but we will decide after receiving a response from North Korea, he said. The meeting if it goes ahead will be the first official government-to-government contact between the two warring Koreas since ties were cut in July 1994 after the death of North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung. It will also be the first under the newly-elected South Korean government of President Kim Dae-Jung, who has said he is against any German-style absorption of the North by the South, and a strict separation of politics from economic contacts.
Kim, who on Sunday said of course we will attend (the talks), has placed priority on uniting the millions of family members divided by the 1950-53 Korean War, in what he calls his sunshine policy towards North Korea, which is fighting a grim losing battle against devastating famine. (AFP)