Koreas Work to Implement Deals
S E O U L, South Korea, July 29 -- Five high-level North Koreannegotiators came to Seoul today to discuss implementingagreements reached at last month’s first summit between theleaders of the two Koreas.
The North Korean delegation, led by senior Cabinet councilor JonKum Jin, flew in on a commercial flight from Beijing because thereare no direct air links between North and South Korea.
“We’ve come here as envoys for national unity and unificationwith the grave mission of fulfilling the implementation of thesummit agreements,” Jon said upon his arrival.
From the airport, the North Korean envoys, accompanied by 13assistants and seven journalists, headed to a five-star hotel foran introductory round of reconciliation talks that end Monday.
First High-Level Visit Since ’92
It was the first visit to Seoul by a senior North Koreandelegation since 1992, when prime ministers of the two sidesvisited each other’s capitals for reconciliation talks. Thosenegotiations were overshadowed by political tension.
This time, however, there are fresh hopes for peace followingthe June meeting in Pyongyang between leaders of communist NorthKorea and democratic South Korea. Relations between the countrieshave been tense since the 1950-53 Korean War.
The envoys were expected to discuss various ways of easing 50years of animosity between the two sides. A proposed visit to SouthKorea by North Korean leader Kim Jong Il also was expected to be onthe agenda.
No Military, Economic Officials
The North Korean delegation does not include any officialshandling military and economic affairs, a disappointment to SouthKorean negotiators who had hoped to discuss opening a military hotline and connecting rail links across the sealed border.
Long viewed by the United States and other countries as a threatto regional stability, North Korea has been seeking contacts with arange of nations. Pyongyang’s desperation for economic aid isbelieved to be a motive for its vigorous efforts to break out ofisolation.
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