(EDITORIAL from the Korea Herald on Aug. 22)

Chance to talk

North Korea has made gestures in recent days indicating that it wants to engage
the outside world.

North Korean representatives at the United Nations in New York traveled to New
Mexico to meet with the New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson this week. After the
meeting, Richardson said that the North Koreans wanted to start a new dialogue
with the United States regarding the nuclear issue.
Pyongyang has also been making gestures toward South Korea in recent days that it
wants to restart relations that have worsened after the inauguration of the Lee
Myung-bak administration.
Thursday night the North lifted border traffic restrictions it had unilaterally
imposed in December.
Kim Jong-il sent his condolences one day after the death of former President Kim
Dae-jung, a relatively speedy response by the North Korean leader who met with
Kim during the first inter-Korean summit held in 2000. This was followed by the
message that Pyongyang would send a team of special envoys to pay their last
respects to Kim. The six-member group includes Kim Ki-nam, Workers' Party Central
Committee secretary close to Kim Jong-il, and Kim Yang-gon, a figure responsible
for inter-Korean relations.
Last week, the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il met with South Korean
businesswoman Hyun Jeong-eun and agreed, among other things, to restart
cross-border tours and resume reunions of divided families.
While North Korea appears to be engaged in fence-mending, there are concerns that
its aim is to foment ideological division in the South. Many critics also point
to the fact that the North has been talking with non-government groups - Hyundai
Asan and the Kim Dae-jung Peace Foundation - rather than the South Korean
government. They charge that the North is ignoring the Seoul government even as
it pursues direct talks with the United States.
The dispatch of high-ranking officials by Pyongyang indicates that it wants to
engage in talks with the South at the government level. The two-day visit, which
ends today, could serve as a starting point for the resumption of talks.
President Lee Myung-bak recently said that he is willing to meet with North
Koreans anytime, anywhere. The current visit by the senior North Korean entourage
may just be that opportunity.
(END)