ID :
78310
Fri, 09/04/2009 - 14:38
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/78310
The shortlink copeid
Unification minister says Seoul wants sound relationship with N. Korea
SEOUL, Sept. 3 (Yonhap) -- Seoul's Unification Minister Hyun In-taek urged North
Korea Thursday to come to the dialogue table with no strings attached, saying his
country wants a "sound" relationship with the communist nation.
"We are willing to talk with North Korea on a variety of issues based on our firm
principles. We will meet with North Korea at any time and over any subject to
verify and narrow differences between the sides," Hyun said in a congratulatory
speech marking the 11th anniversary of the Korean Council for Reconciliation and
Cooperation, a civic organization working for the reunification of the two
Koreas.
The remarks came as North Korea is taking a series of steps believed aimed at
improving its soured relations with the South.
North-South relations quickly deteriorated after Seoul's conservative Lee
Myung-bak administration was inaugurated early last year with a pledge to take a
tough stance on the North's nuclear ambitions. The inter-Korean relationship
further worsened following the North's launch of a long-range rocket in April and
its second atomic test in May.
The troubled relationship began to thaw last month when a group of North Korean
officials on a visit here to pay respects to the country's late former President
Kim Dae-jung met with the South Korean president in the first high-profile
meeting between the divided Koreas since Lee's inauguration in February last
year.
North Korea has since removed most of its cross-border travel restrictions for
South Korean workers at a joint industrial park in its border town of Kaesong and
also released a South Korean worker detained there in late March.
Hyun, however, said North Korea still needs to take Seoul-Pyongyang relations
more seriously, noting Pyongyang has often falsely accused Seoul of promoting
confrontation.
"We are now standing at the starting line of a sound and normal South-North
relationship. Whether the South-North ties can develop into a future-oriented
relationship still entirely depends on North Korea," he said.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
Korea Thursday to come to the dialogue table with no strings attached, saying his
country wants a "sound" relationship with the communist nation.
"We are willing to talk with North Korea on a variety of issues based on our firm
principles. We will meet with North Korea at any time and over any subject to
verify and narrow differences between the sides," Hyun said in a congratulatory
speech marking the 11th anniversary of the Korean Council for Reconciliation and
Cooperation, a civic organization working for the reunification of the two
Koreas.
The remarks came as North Korea is taking a series of steps believed aimed at
improving its soured relations with the South.
North-South relations quickly deteriorated after Seoul's conservative Lee
Myung-bak administration was inaugurated early last year with a pledge to take a
tough stance on the North's nuclear ambitions. The inter-Korean relationship
further worsened following the North's launch of a long-range rocket in April and
its second atomic test in May.
The troubled relationship began to thaw last month when a group of North Korean
officials on a visit here to pay respects to the country's late former President
Kim Dae-jung met with the South Korean president in the first high-profile
meeting between the divided Koreas since Lee's inauguration in February last
year.
North Korea has since removed most of its cross-border travel restrictions for
South Korean workers at a joint industrial park in its border town of Kaesong and
also released a South Korean worker detained there in late March.
Hyun, however, said North Korea still needs to take Seoul-Pyongyang relations
more seriously, noting Pyongyang has often falsely accused Seoul of promoting
confrontation.
"We are now standing at the starting line of a sound and normal South-North
relationship. Whether the South-North ties can develop into a future-oriented
relationship still entirely depends on North Korea," he said.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
