Korean Leaders Could Meet This Year

The leaders of North and South Korea could meet this year if Pyongyang begins meeting its commitments under a February denuclearization agreement, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, May 8).

An unidentified government official in Seoul said the meeting between South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il could occur in July or August, according to the Chosun Ilbo newspaper.  The meeting would be intended to promote reconciliation between the two nations.

The Roh administration denied the report.  This would be the second leadership summit, following a 2000 meeting between Kim and then-South Korean President Kim Dae-jung.

U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Alexander Vershbow said last week that reconciliation efforts must occur in coordination with North Korean denuclearization, AP reported (Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, May 8).

South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon today said he was frustrated by the continued delay on moving forward with the agreement, Agence France-Presse reported.  Pyongyang missed the April 14 deadline to take the initial steps, and has refused to take action until it collects $25 million that had been frozen at Banco Delta Asia in Macau.

“I lament the fact that the North Korean nuclear issue has not been able to move forward to due these temporary and technical problems,” he said.

There are “active discussions on various schemes among involved parties” on resolving the matter, Song said.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack would neither confirm nor deny reports that Pyongyang had asked to have the money transferred through a U.S. bank (Agence France-Presse/TODAYonline, May 9).

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