South Korea, China Agree on House Subpanel to Hold Effort to Resume Nuke Talks
By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
South Korea and China agreed Sunday to work together in a bid to resume the six-party denuclearization talks as soon as possible, a ministry official said.
In a meeting in Tokyo, Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi shared the view that efforts should be made to end North Korea's nuclear ambitions but did not discuss the North's demand for a peace treaty, the official said.
A week ago, the secretive state proposed having talks to replace the present armistice with a peace treaty and signaled it can return to the stalled six-party nuclear talks to discuss the issue.
"The two ministers assessed the current situation regarding the North Korean nuclear issue and agreed to make a joint effort to denuclearize North Korea through early six-party talks," ministry spokesman Kim Young-sun said.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the fourth Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation.
Yu asked for China's active role in the six-way meeting as the host country to put the deadlocked talks back on track.
The Chinese minister replied that his country has sought to resume the talks and will make continuous efforts.
"Now is the time to keep the goal of denuclearization and narrow the opinion gaps among six-party members," he was quoted as saying.
The North vowed to boycott the talks involving South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia in retaliation for the U.N. resolution 1874 adopted after Pyongyang's nuclear test last May.
Regarding inter-Korean relations, the two ministers welcomed the upcoming inter-Korean talks over the resumption of joint tour projects proposed by the reclusive state.
"A conciliatory atmosphere has been just established as the two Koreas began discussions on resuming tours to Mt. Geumgang and Gaeseong," Yu said.
Minister Jiechi noted that China has consistently supported inter-Korean talks and cooperation.
Last Thursday, North Korea proposed having talks with South Korea to resume trips to the two tourism enclaves in North Korea.
The tour programs have been suspended since last July after a South Korean female was shot and killed by a North Korean soldier at the Mt. Geumgang resort.
The Chinese minister also invited President Lee Myung-bak to the opening ceremony of the Shanghai World Expo scheduled for April 30.