| The second Korean summit is scheduled for March Yesterday, the South Korean media covered sensational news - Seoul is offering Pyongyang to hold “summit No. 2” in March. Allegedly, ex-president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kim Dae-jung is supposed to go to Pyongyang with this news in the near future. It was he who, on June 15, 2000, participated together with the head of the DPRK, Kim Jong Il, in the first historic summit of the two Koreas. At the same time, the two Kims agreed to hold their next meeting in Seoul.
The sensation occurred at a time when hopes for continuing the six-party negotiations on the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula seemed completely illusory. The summit could be a desperate attempt by Seoul to find a common language with Pyongyang without regard to the political maneuvers of Washington, which does not want to concede anything to Kim Jong Il.
But Assistant to the South Korean Minister for National Unification Kim Yong Chol quickly stated: “Our principled position is to make efforts to normalize relations between the South and the North after the end of the US elections.” Seoul is clearly cautious, fearing a negative reaction from both Washington and Pyongyang.
In addition, yesterday in Beijing, Deputy Head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Wu Dawei hinted that six-party talks involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan could resume before the end of this year. This topic was discussed on October 27 in Seoul at an informal meeting by the heads of three official delegations to the Beijing six-party rounds - deputy heads of the foreign ministries of South Korea, the United States and Russia, Lee Soo-hyuk, James Kelly and Alexander Alekseev.
Mr. Lee summed up the meeting: “It is necessary to confirm that the six-party talks are continuing. Our position is flexible." He advised his colleagues to “move the dialogue forward” by putting forward “slightly more original and realistic proposals.” But are Americans ready to add originality to their communication with Kim Jong Il? This will become clear only after the completion of the US presidential elections. Katerina LABETSKAYA |
|
