Pyongyang spurns Seoul's overtures<\/p>\n
SEOUL (Reuter): North Korea has shelved rice talks with the
\nSouth, accusing a sailor on a South Korean rice ship of spying,
\nSeoul's Vice-Unification Minister Song Young-dae said yesterday.<\/p>\n
North Korea watchers in Seoul said Pyongyang was spurning a
\nbid by South Korea to achieve a breakthrough in relations by
\nproviding emergency rice aid to the communist state.<\/p>\n
Song told reporters the ship, which delivered 5,000 tons of
\nrice, was being barred from returning home three days after it
\nunloaded its cargo at the North Korean port of Chongjin.<\/p>\n
\"North Korea claims (sailor) Lee Yang-chon's photographing at
\nChongjin port has been found out, through his confession, to be a
\npremeditated espionage activity and an act of provocation,\" Song
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"The North also notified that under these circumstances, the
\nthird round of talks could not take place as planned.\"<\/p>\n
The talks, the only existing official channel between the two
\nrivals, were due to begin today in Beijing.<\/p>\n
South Korea had hoped the talks would lead to steps ending the
\nlong-standing confrontation with the North along the four
\nkilometer wide demilitarization zone dividing the peninsula,
\nregarded as the last Cold War frontier.<\/p>\n
\"North Korea threw a cold blanket on Seoul's plan to forge new
\nrelations,\" said Kim Koo-seup, chief researcher on North Korea at
\nSeoul's Korea Institute for Defense Analysis.<\/p>\n
\"The North does not want any major changes towards the South
\nas they suspect Seoul seeks to absorb the North by increasing
\ncontacts and exchanges,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Song said Seoul officials were puzzled by the North's
\naccusation as personal belongings of the 9,400-ton Samsun Venus'
\ncrew, including cameras, should have been kept in a sealed box
\nand they were told not to take pictures.<\/p>\n
He demanded the return of the ship's 21 crew and said Seoul
\nwas proposing to the North a meeting of representatives to
\ndiscuss the issue.<\/p>\n
The South \"is committed to the supply of rice to North Korea
\nas already agreed but I make it clear delay in rice supply is
\nunavoidable until this case is resolved\", he said.<\/p>\n
At the first round of talks in Beijing in June, Seoul agreed
\nto supply 150,000 tons of free rice to the North to ease what
\nSeoul says is a chronic food shortage and to improve ties. Half
\nhas been shipped to the North already.<\/p>\n
Asked if the latest development would mean inter-Korean ties
\nwould turn for the worse, Song said: \"It is a sudden, unexpected
\nincident. It is not right to link this case to the broad picture
\nof South-North relations.\"<\/p>\n
But South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted a senior official
\nas saying Seoul was considering scaling down a proposal aimed at
\nimproving ties with the North on Aug. 15, the 50th anniversary of
\nKorea's independence from Japan.<\/p>\n
\"North Korea is laying cards on the table to use them for
\nbargaining with the South. It does not want inter-Korean ties to
\ndevelop as Seoul wants to see,\" said Yu Suk-ryul, fellow at the
\nInstitute of Foreign Affairs and National Security.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pyongyang-spurns-seouls-overtures-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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