N. Korea must discuss denuclearization to win S. Korean support: minister

SEOUL, Feb. 9 (Yonhap) -- North Korea should agree to discuss its nuclear arms
programs with South Korea if the sides are to open a new chapter in their
relations this year, the Unification Minister said Tuesday.
"The South and the North should hold responsible and serious dialogue and be able
to get down to the brass tacks on the nuclear problem with open hearts," Hyun
In-taek told a forum in Seoul. "Only then will a new kind of inter-Korean
relations open."
North Korea dismisses South Korean proposals to make the nuclear issue a key part
of inter-Korean negotiations as a move that stymies reconciliation and
reunification.
Hyun said Seoul hopes for a new turning point in its relations with Pyongyang
this year, adding that cooperation between the sides will come on the heels of
South Korea's success in bringing about progress in North Korea's
denuclearization.
"We intend to take the lead in denuclearizing North Korea and expanding
inter-Korean cooperation based on it," he said. President Lee Myung-bak had said
in his New Year's Day speech that the two Koreas should open a "new chapter" in
their relations, which froze upon his inauguration in early 2008 but have
recently shown signs of thawing.
South Korea also says it is ready to hold a summit with North Korea if Pyongyang
agrees to discuss its nuclear arms programs and humanitarian issues involving
South Koreans, including prisoners captured during the 1950-53 Korean War.
The North denies holding any South Korean soldiers from the fratricidal conflict
that ended in a truce. Hyun said the issues can be resolved "as long as the sides
come up with a resolve to deal with them."
At another forum held earlier in the day, Hyun said his government will
prioritize efforts to help North Korea fight deforestation if inter-Korean
dialogue takes off in full swing.
Deforestation in the isolated country is aggravated by its economic plight as
people there strip forests of trees in an effort to create fields for crops and
fight chronic food shortages.
"Cooperation on efforts to plant trees in North Korea requires an active response
from the North as well as our will," he said. "If inter-Korean dialogue begins in
earnest, afforestation in the North will be assigned a priority in our efforts
for cooperation."
North Korea, where forests account for over 70 percent of its terrain, has yet to
take an official stance on offers by the South Korean government to help roll
back deforestation.
Park Jong-wha, a professor at Seoul National University, said at the forum in
Seoul that the scale of land that warrants immediate tree-planting in the North
amounts to 13,878 square kilometers, or about 23 times the size of the South
Korean capital, Seoul.
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