http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-10-03-korea_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip
SEOUL — South Korea's president signed a commitment with North Korea Thursday to seek a formal end to war between their nations, ending a historic three-day summit and coming a day after a nuclear agreement reached 600 miles away in Beijing that President Bush hailed as a key to "peace and prosperity" in Asia.
South Korea never signed the cease fire that ended hostilities in the 1950-53 Korean War; so the two Koreas have remained technically at war ever since. In their declaration Thursday in the northern capital Pyongyang, South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il agreed to pursue a permanent peace. South Korea has said it will need to work with the other combatants in the Korean war — China and the United States — to reach a formal peace deal. President Bush has said there can be no permanent peace on the Korean peninsula until North Korea gives up nuclear arms.
In their declaration, Roh and Kim agreed to pursue a permanent peace with two other Korean combatants: the United States and China. In their 8-point agreement Thursday, Roh and Kim also promised to:
• Expand economic cooperation between the wealthy South and impoverished North.
• Arrange more meetings between family members separated for decades by the North-South border.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: George W Bush * North Korea * South Korea * Asia * Pyongyang * North Korean * Koreas * Kim Jong Il * Koreans * South Korean President * Kim Yong Nam * Roh * Kim Dae Jung
• Open regular freight service along a recently restored rail link.
• Create a joint fishing zone on their disputed sea frontier.
• Run flights from the southern capital Seoul to Mt. Paektu in the north, which is considered sacred by Koreans on both sides of the border.
• Hold summits more regularly; this was only the second time the leaders of North and South have met.
The lofty pronouncements in Pyongyang came shortly after a nuclear deal reached late Wednesday in Beijing: In talks with five other countries, North Korea agreed to complete the disabling of its nuclear facilities at Yongbyon and reveal all its nuclear programs by the end of the year. (The other five nations in the talks: the United States, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea.)
NORTH KOREA: Bush lauds nuke deal
NORTH KOREA'S KIM: Leader denies health problems
In return, the isolated Stalinist state will get the equivalent of one million tons of heavy fuel oil in energy, economic and humanitarian assistance, and the United States will work toward establishing normal diplomatic relations with North Korea and taking it off a blacklist of countries that sponsor terrorism.
The move would be the biggest step North Korea has taken to scale back its nuclear ambitions after decades of seeking to develop the world's deadliest weapons. President Bush hailed it as a key for "peace and prosperity" in northeast Asia.
Pyongyang shut down its sole operating reactor at Yongbyon in July after the U.S. reversed its hard-line policy against the regime, the first concrete progress from years of talks that also include China, Japan, Russia and South Korea.
The agreement signed Thursday by Kim and Roh cited the nuclear issue only in a single sentence, saying the North and South would make "joint efforts to ensure the smooth implementation" of previous accords from the six-nation arms talks "for the solution of the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula."
The Pyongyang meeting between Roh and Kim was only the second summit between leaders of the two countries. The first – in June 2000 – made history, raised hopes for reconciliation of North and South and won former South Korean President Kim Dae Jung a Nobel Peace Prize.
This week's summit appeared strained at times. Kim gave Roh a chilly 12-minute reception Tuesday, then reacted testily Wednesday to suggestions the North needed to reform and open up its closed economy.
VIDEO: Kim Jong Il displays scant enthusiasm
"We have to ask ourselves why we support North Korea with aid," says Park Syung Je, analyst at the Asia Strategic Institute. "They don't want to reform. They don't want to change."
Kim also failed to turn up Wednesday night at what is usually the North's signature diplomatic event: a performance of the mass gymnastics exercise known as the Arirang Festival. Instead, Roh sat with North Korea's No. 2, Kim Yong Nam.
"Kim Jong Il was very rude," says Lee Shin Wha, political scientist at Korea University in Seoul. "It looked like Big Brother and Little Brother. He doesn't have any respect for Roh Moo Hyun."
At other times, though, Kim appeared to warm up to Roh. Wednesday morning, he asked how well Roh had slept at the Baekhwawon Guest House ("a good night's sleep," the South Korean leader said).
Later Wednesday, Kim invited Roh to stay an extra day. The two countries eventually decided to end the summit as scheduled on Thursday."We may not have to extend our talks because we have had sufficient dialogue," Kim said after a 90-minute afternoon session. "Let's stick to the original schedule as many people in the South wait for Roh."
Although the two Koreas said they would hold "frequent" summits, no timing for any future such encounters was given. Instead, the Koreas scheduled meetings between their defense and prime ministers in coming months to build on progress from this week's summit.
The agreement to increase reunions between relatives separated by the border focuses on an issue that is deeply emotional to many aging Koreans. Since the first summit between the Koreas in June 2000, some 18,000 Koreans from separated families have met through face-to-face or video reunions.
The North and South also agreed that a joint cheering squad for the Koreas would travel to next year's Beijing Olympics via train. The countries have sought to field a joint team at international sporting events, but have differed over how athletes would be chosen.
Roh, whose term ends in February, has been unpopular due to perceptions that he mismanaged economic policies. He had faced criticism from conservatives at home who said staging the summit just months before South Korea's December presidential election amounted to a political ploy.
North Korea has also made clear it does not want the conservatives — who now hold massive leads in opinion polls — to take office.
South Korea's main opposition Grand National Party called the declaration "insufficient."
Critics also took note of what wasn't discussed in the Pyongyang summit. Roh didn't press Kim on his nuclear program or his regime's record of repression, notes Park of the strategic institute: "No one mentioned human rights. No one mentioned the North Korean people."
Contributing: Wire reports
SEOUL — South Korea's president signed a commitment with North Korea Thursday to seek a formal end to war between their nations, ending a historic three-day summit and coming a day after a nuclear agreement reached 600 miles away in Beijing that President Bush hailed as a key to "peace and prosperity" in Asia.
South Korea never signed the cease fire that ended hostilities in the 1950-53 Korean War; so the two Koreas have remained technically at war ever since. In their declaration Thursday in the northern capital Pyongyang, South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il agreed to pursue a permanent peace. South Korea has said it will need to work with the other combatants in the Korean war — China and the United States — to reach a formal peace deal. President Bush has said there can be no permanent peace on the Korean peninsula until North Korea gives up nuclear arms.
In their declaration, Roh and Kim agreed to pursue a permanent peace with two other Korean combatants: the United States and China. In their 8-point agreement Thursday, Roh and Kim also promised to:
• Expand economic cooperation between the wealthy South and impoverished North.
• Arrange more meetings between family members separated for decades by the North-South border.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: George W Bush * North Korea * South Korea * Asia * Pyongyang * North Korean * Koreas * Kim Jong Il * Koreans * South Korean President * Kim Yong Nam * Roh * Kim Dae Jung
• Open regular freight service along a recently restored rail link.
• Create a joint fishing zone on their disputed sea frontier.
• Run flights from the southern capital Seoul to Mt. Paektu in the north, which is considered sacred by Koreans on both sides of the border.
• Hold summits more regularly; this was only the second time the leaders of North and South have met.
The lofty pronouncements in Pyongyang came shortly after a nuclear deal reached late Wednesday in Beijing: In talks with five other countries, North Korea agreed to complete the disabling of its nuclear facilities at Yongbyon and reveal all its nuclear programs by the end of the year. (The other five nations in the talks: the United States, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea.)
NORTH KOREA: Bush lauds nuke deal
NORTH KOREA'S KIM: Leader denies health problems
In return, the isolated Stalinist state will get the equivalent of one million tons of heavy fuel oil in energy, economic and humanitarian assistance, and the United States will work toward establishing normal diplomatic relations with North Korea and taking it off a blacklist of countries that sponsor terrorism.
The move would be the biggest step North Korea has taken to scale back its nuclear ambitions after decades of seeking to develop the world's deadliest weapons. President Bush hailed it as a key for "peace and prosperity" in northeast Asia.
Pyongyang shut down its sole operating reactor at Yongbyon in July after the U.S. reversed its hard-line policy against the regime, the first concrete progress from years of talks that also include China, Japan, Russia and South Korea.
The agreement signed Thursday by Kim and Roh cited the nuclear issue only in a single sentence, saying the North and South would make "joint efforts to ensure the smooth implementation" of previous accords from the six-nation arms talks "for the solution of the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula."
The Pyongyang meeting between Roh and Kim was only the second summit between leaders of the two countries. The first – in June 2000 – made history, raised hopes for reconciliation of North and South and won former South Korean President Kim Dae Jung a Nobel Peace Prize.
This week's summit appeared strained at times. Kim gave Roh a chilly 12-minute reception Tuesday, then reacted testily Wednesday to suggestions the North needed to reform and open up its closed economy.
VIDEO: Kim Jong Il displays scant enthusiasm
"We have to ask ourselves why we support North Korea with aid," says Park Syung Je, analyst at the Asia Strategic Institute. "They don't want to reform. They don't want to change."
Kim also failed to turn up Wednesday night at what is usually the North's signature diplomatic event: a performance of the mass gymnastics exercise known as the Arirang Festival. Instead, Roh sat with North Korea's No. 2, Kim Yong Nam.
"Kim Jong Il was very rude," says Lee Shin Wha, political scientist at Korea University in Seoul. "It looked like Big Brother and Little Brother. He doesn't have any respect for Roh Moo Hyun."
At other times, though, Kim appeared to warm up to Roh. Wednesday morning, he asked how well Roh had slept at the Baekhwawon Guest House ("a good night's sleep," the South Korean leader said).
Later Wednesday, Kim invited Roh to stay an extra day. The two countries eventually decided to end the summit as scheduled on Thursday."We may not have to extend our talks because we have had sufficient dialogue," Kim said after a 90-minute afternoon session. "Let's stick to the original schedule as many people in the South wait for Roh."
Although the two Koreas said they would hold "frequent" summits, no timing for any future such encounters was given. Instead, the Koreas scheduled meetings between their defense and prime ministers in coming months to build on progress from this week's summit.
The agreement to increase reunions between relatives separated by the border focuses on an issue that is deeply emotional to many aging Koreans. Since the first summit between the Koreas in June 2000, some 18,000 Koreans from separated families have met through face-to-face or video reunions.
The North and South also agreed that a joint cheering squad for the Koreas would travel to next year's Beijing Olympics via train. The countries have sought to field a joint team at international sporting events, but have differed over how athletes would be chosen.
Roh, whose term ends in February, has been unpopular due to perceptions that he mismanaged economic policies. He had faced criticism from conservatives at home who said staging the summit just months before South Korea's December presidential election amounted to a political ploy.
North Korea has also made clear it does not want the conservatives — who now hold massive leads in opinion polls — to take office.
South Korea's main opposition Grand National Party called the declaration "insufficient."
Critics also took note of what wasn't discussed in the Pyongyang summit. Roh didn't press Kim on his nuclear program or his regime's record of repression, notes Park of the strategic institute: "No one mentioned human rights. No one mentioned the North Korean people."
Contributing: Wire reports
and where should we redeploy to...the new 'Twin Towers' project...get a clue already...better over there than over here...no?