Who will be chief N. Korean delegate?
President Park Geun-hye talks during a weekly meeting with her senior secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae, Monday. Park expressed her hope for progress in the June 12-13 government-to-government talks with North Korea in Seoul. / Korea Times photo by Koh Young-kwon
‘Inter-government’ talks due in Seoul June 12-13
By Chung Min-uck
Who will lead the North Korean delegation to the “government-to-government” talks in Seoul on June 12 and 13?
Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae is likely to be chief South Korean delegate.
But the North didn’t accept Seoul’s request for Kim Yang-gon, head of the North’s United Front Department of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea.
During their marathon talks that ended early Monday morning at the truce village of Panmunjeom, Pyongyang insisted on being unclear about its lead delegate.
The North’s Kim Song-hye, who led the working-level talks, insisted that the event should be called a “government-to-government” meeting rather than a ministers one as suggested by the South.
Chun Hae-sung, the Unification Ministry official who was Kim’s counterpart, told a news conference that he didn’t know who would lead the northern delegation, saying that it would travel to Seoul by road. Each delegation will be composed of five officials and the meeting will be held in the Grand Hilton western Seoul.
North Korean experts say it is unlikely for Kim to lead the North Korean delegation because he has never taken the helm in inter-Korean minister-level talks on previous occasions.
Alternatively, Won Dong-yeon, deputy chief of the United Front Department, and Maeng Kyong-il, a high-ranking official at the North’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, are seen as potential chief delegates.
The two are considered inferior in status compared to Ryoo.
The Unification Ministry said additional details of the inter-government meeting are to be discussed through the hotline at Panmunjom that was restored last week.
The North earlier severed the line prompted by U.N. sanctions imposed following its February nuclear test, and joint military drills between the South and U.S.
The two Koreas also concurred on the North Korean delegation arriving in the South by land.
It is widely expected that the military hotline, which was also cut by the North for similar reasons, will be restored as well upon the North Korean delegations arrival.
The line is used for security checks when either side crosses the border.
Regarding the agenda for the meeting, a ministry source asking for anonymity, said Seoul called for narrowing down the issues to the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, Mt. Geumgang tours and reunions of families separated by the Korean War (1950-53), while the North emphasized the need to add other issues it originally suggested: arranging of joint celebrations of June 15 South-North Joint Declaration and the 1972 July 4 North-South Joint Statement.
“Our commitment at the upcoming meeting is to first resolve issues that the two suides can easily compromise on,” said Chun in a briefing, Monday. “Although the schedule is relatively short compared to previous inter-Korean meetings, we hope for a constructive consultation.”
Concerning Wednesday’s meeting, observers say the government should more focus on re-building trust between the two Koreas instead of hurrying to achieve fruitful outcomes on contentious issues as it is a very hard earned chance.
High-level talks between the South and North have been halted since the liberal Roh Moo-hyun administration left office in 2007.