S. Korea, China call for early resumption of N. Korea nuclear talks

By Byun Duk-kun
TOKYO, Jan. 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan and
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi agreed Sunday to work for an early
resumption of talks on ending North Korea's nuclear ambition and urged the North
to quickly return to the negotiation table, a South Korean official said.
The joint call came about a week after Pyongyang's foreign ministry said in a
statement that its country will return to the six-nation nuclear talks if the
international community first removes its sanctions on the North.
"(Yu and Yang) noted a need to resume the six-party talks at an early date and
agreed to closely cooperate toward that end," said the South Korean official
accompanying the South Korean president of a bilateral meeting between the
ministers here.
The talks were held on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting of the Forum for
East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC), which also involved foreign
ministers of 14 other Asian countries, including Australia, Japan and Brunei, as
well as those of 18 Latin American nations.
The South Korean foreign minister asked China to actively seek an early
resumption of the nuclear negotiations that were last held in December 2008.
China, host of the talks that also involve the two Koreas, the United States,
Japan and Russia, will continue to work for an early resumption of the stalled
dialogue through close cooperation with North Korea, Yang was quoted as telling
Yu.
As a close ally of North Korea, China has more leverage with the communist nation
any other nations within the six-nation talks, if not in the world.
"I believe now is a time for us to firmly maintain our goal to denuclearize the
Korean Peninsula and work to narrow gaps between the countries," the Chinese
minister said, according to the official from Seoul's foreign ministry.
The Chinese minister also welcomed Pyongyang's recent proposal for bilateral
talks with Seoul on the resumption of cross-border tourism programs to its Mount
Kumgang and border city of Kaesong, an ancient capital of the Goryeo Dynasty
(A.D. 918-1392), noting any dialogue with the reclusive North may help bring the
North back to the nuclear negotiations.
"I am pleased to hear the South and North Korea will hold negotiations for the
resumption of the Mount Kumgang and Kaesong tourism programs. China has
consistently supported dialogue and reconciliation between the two sides," Yang
was quoted as saying.
The inter-Korean tourism programs were halted amid deteriorating relations
between the divided Koreas following the shooting death of a female South Korean
tourist by a North Korean guard at Mount Kumgang in 2008.
The South Korean and Chinese ministers also agreed to further improve their
countries' bilateral ties through continued and increased exchange of visits by
their leaders and other ranking officials.
Chinese President Hu Jintao is set to visit Seoul for the G-20 economic summit in
November, while the country's Premier Wen Jiabao, will also visit South Korea
this year for a three-way summit with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and
their Japanese counterpart, Yukio Hatoyama, the official said.
The Chinese minister expressed hope that South Korean President Lee may visit the
opening ceremony of the World Expo to be held in Shanghai in April, he added.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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