S. Korea expects Obama to consider inter-Korean ties in engaging N. Korea

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead; UPDATES throughout with minister's comments on N. Korea-U.S. talks, other details)
By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, Nov. 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korea expressed hopes Friday that Washington's incoming Obama administration will engage North Korea in tandem with progress in inter-Korean relations.

"As there will be a so-called 'synergy effect' when North Korea-U.S. talks are
pushed together with South-North Korean dialogue, I think South Korea and the U.S.
will have to coordinate a policy in such a direction," Foreign Minister Yu
Myung-hwan told his monthly press briefing.
He said that South Korea's conservative government remains firm on its basic
principle to resolve North Korean issues through dialogue and negotiations.
Yu said the chilly state of inter-Korean relations has been caused by Pyongyang's
refusal to talk with Seoul, not the Lee Myung-bak government's policy towards the
North.
The foreign minister was responding to a question on South Korea's position on
President-elect Barack Obama's projected "aggressive, sustained and direct
diplomacy" in dealing with the North.
During a primary debate, Obama expressed willingness to meet with shunned leaders
like North Korea's Kim Jong-il within his first year as president. Obama later
toned down his plan, saying such meetings would occur only after adequate
preparations.
The minister also dismissed concerns that the Lee administration, which has taken
a tougher approach on Pyongyang than its liberal predecessors, may have
difficulty coordinating its North Korea policy with that of the new U.S.
government.
He cited sustained relations between the South Korean government and key foreign
policy advisers to President-elect Obama, many of whom served under the Clinton
administration.
"We had experience in close policy cooperation at the end of the Clinton
administration and also share a common goal of denuclearizing North Korea," Yu
said. "Since we have maintained sufficient ties and exchanges of opinion, there
will be no problem in the coordination of North Korea policy."
With regard to the six-way talks on North Korea's nuclear program, Yu said the
involved nations are consulting each other with the aim of resuming negotiations
by the middle of this month.
The participants in the talks comprise the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Russia,
and Japan.
Given a packed diplomatic schedule in the coming weeks, however -- including the
Group of 20 summit and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings -- those
talks may have to be delayed until early December, Yu said.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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