hankyoreh

South and North Korea are set to hold a new round of high-level talks this week, with Seoul hoping to revive inter-Korean reconciliation after a recent landmark deal over North Korea's nuclear dismantlement.

The five-member South Korean delegation, led by Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung, will fly to the North's capital, Pyongyang, on Tuesday afternoon on a direct charter flight from Seoul to attend the four-day meeting. Lee's North Korean counterpart is Kwon Ho-ung, chief councilor of the cabinet.

"It is the first ministerial meeting in seven months, so we will focus on normalizing inter-Korean relations," a senior Unification Ministry official said, asking to remain anonymous because his briefing came on the eve of negotiations.

"We will specify the schedule for inter-Korean dialogue by sector and major joint projects and discuss ways of implementing agreements, which have yet to be fulfilled," he told reporters.

On Feb. 15, they agreed to reopen the ministerial dialogue after a seven-month hiatus, just two days after North Korea pledged to take action to end its nuclear weapons program in return for energy aid and other economic and diplomatic benefits from South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.

The ministerial talks, the highest-level channel of regular dialogue between the two Koreas, have been suspended amid the tension over North Korea's missile tests in July and its nuclear weapon test in October.

The talks, the 20th since the leaders of the two Koreas held their first-ever summit in Pyongyang in June 2000, are expected to be dominated by the resumption of Seoul's humanitarian assistance for the impoverished North and inter-Korean economic projects.

The agenda will likely include restarting rice and fertilizer aid to North Korea and reunions of families separated by the border, the opening of cross-border railways and the South's provision of raw materials in return for the North's minerals, according to South Korean officials.

"Our aid to North Korea will be within the scope of the amount which can be understood by the public," another government official said, asking to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the issue, suggesting the aid will not exceed 500,000 tons of rice and 350,000 tons of fertilizer this year, the levels seen in previous years.

Seoul is expected to ship some of the fertilizer aid to Pyongyang shortly after the cabinet-level talks so that it can be used for the planting of rice seedlings this spring, and the rest will likely be offered in view of the progress of the six-nation agreement over the North's nuclear dismantlement, the official said.

Shortly after the North conducted the missile tests in July, the South suspended food and fertilizer aid. After the North's nuclear weapon test in October, the possible resumption of aid was blocked.

In retaliation, the communist nation immediately suspended inter-Korean talks and reunions for families separated by the sealed border since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

Inter-Korean family reunion events will be restarted as soon as the South resumes aid to the North, so more attention will be paid to whether the two sides will agree to address the issue of South Korean prisoners of war (POWs) and abductees held in the North.

In April, the South offered more economic aid to the North in return for a resolution of the humanitarian issue, but the communist country was reluctant to deal with the POW and abductee issue.

Official Seoul government data shows that 485 South Koreans have been abducted to North Korea since the Korean War ended, and that 548 South Korean soldiers were taken prisoner by the North during the three-year conflict.

During the talks, South Korea will also propose to operate cross-border railways whose test runs were canceled abruptly by the North in May. The cancellation was viewed as a last-minute veto by the hard-line military in the North.

The rail lines, one cutting across the western section of the border and the other crossing the eastern side, have been completed and were to undergo test runs. A set of parallel roads have been in use since 2005 for South Koreans traveling to the North.

South Korea has repeatedly called on North Korea to provide a security guarantee for the operation of cross-border railways, but the North has yet to give an answer on the issue.

The reconnection of the severed train lines was one of the tangible inter-Korean rapprochement projects agreed upon following the historic summit between then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 2000.

The two sides are also expected to discuss inter-Korean economic cooperation with a focus on the implementation of an agreement reached in July, according to officials.

In July 2005, South Korea agreed to provide the North with US$80 million worth of raw materials to help it produce clothing, footwear and soap starting in 2006. In return, the North was to provide the South with minerals, such as zinc and magnesite, after the mines are developed with South Korean investments, guaranteed by the Pyongyang government.

But the accord was not carried out as North Korea suddenly cancelled scheduled tests of two cross-border railways in May 2006.

North Korea's subsequent missile and nuclear weapons tests further clouded hopes of implementing the accord.

"They will also discuss the resumption of military talks, including the second meeting of defense chiefs because a military safety guarantee accord is necessary to ensure progress in such economic projects as cross-border train operations and prevention of flood damage at the Imjin River," the official said.

In the meeting, Lee, South Korea's point man on the North, will likely stress that it is important for the North to honor the six-nation agreement, and explain its implications in the inter-Korean relationship and political and economic benefits North Korea would receive in return for implementing the accord, he added.

"The ministerial talks will serve to accelerate the implementation of North Korea's first steps toward dismantling its nuclear weapon program and expedite inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation," the official said.

On Feb. 13, North Korea agreed to shut down its nuclear facilities and eventually dismantle them in exchange for energy aid and other benefits. The U.S. also agreed to discuss normalizing relations with the communist nation.

Under the deal, North Korea will receive initial aid equal to 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil for shutting down and sealing its main nuclear reactor and related facilities at Yongbyon, 80 kilometers north of Pyongyang, within 60 days. International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors will determine whether the North carries out the steps properly.

The communist nation can eventually receive another 950,000 tons in aid if it disables the reactor irreversibly and declares that it has ended all nuclear programs. The cost would be equitably distributed among the five other countries.
Seoul, Feb. 26 (Yonhap News)