S. Korea changes stance on talks venue<\/p>\n
Paul Eckert, Reuters, Seoul<\/p>\n
South Korea has reversed earlier opposition to North Korea's
\nproposed venue for inter-Korean ministerial talks and has agreed
\nto accept the North's Mount Kumgang resort as the site, an
\nofficial in Seoul said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The talks were originally scheduled to be held from Oct. 28 to
\n31 in the North Korean capital Pyongyang, but were postponed
\nafter North Korea abruptly insisted on a venue change for reasons
\nthat remain unclear to Seoul.<\/p>\n
\"That is a fact,\" a Unification Ministry official said when
\nasked if it had changed its earlier insistence on meeting in
\nPyongyang as the two Koreas agreed in September.<\/p>\n
\"After consulting with other ministries, probably at a meeting
\nof the National Security Council, we will make a proposal to the
\nNorth some time this week,\" the official said of Seoul's bid to
\nbreak a North-South deadlock.<\/p>\n
Unification Minister Hong Soon-young would then send a message
\nlater this week to North Korea recommending talks at the remote
\nmountain resort, the official said by telephone.<\/p>\n
The Communist North derailed plans to hold a series of
\nexchanges this month when it called off visits of families
\ndivided since the 1950-53 Korean War, saying South Korea's anti-
\nterrorism security alert had made the visits unsafe.<\/p>\n
Seoul, host to 37,000 U.S. troops, had rejected Pyongyang's
\nreasoning as baseless and demanded North Korea adhere to the
\noriginally agreed venue.<\/p>\n
The U.S. State Department said last month -- even before the
\nSept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon --
\nthat U.S. military installations in South Korea and Japan could
\nbe terrorism targets. That warning remains in force.<\/p>\n
The South Korean government has come under criticism from the
\npolitical opposition and conservative media for making unilateral
\nconcessions to North Korea. Government opponents say Pyongyang
\nhas failed to reciprocate Seoul's goodwill and food aid.<\/p>\n
The conservative opposition Grand National Party (GNP)
\nattacked the government as \"shady\" for talking tough before a by-
\nelection last week then caving in to the North this week.<\/p>\n
GNP spokesman Kwon Chul-hyun urged Seoul to \"rethink the
\nministerial meeting unless it can ensure the speedy resumption of
\nfamily reunions and other postponed talks\".<\/p>\n
The two Koreas remain technically in a state of war since the
\nKorean conflict ended in an armed truce that has yet to be
\nreplaced by a peace treaty.<\/p>\n
Seoul's attempt to get Korean ties back on track comes as
\nNorth Korea continued a barrage of personal attacks on U.S.
\nPresident George W. Bush over remarks in which he called North
\nKorean leader Kim Jong-il secretive and suspicious.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, the North's official Rodong Shinmun took a swipe
\nat Bush and challenged the U.S. military presence in the South.<\/p>\n
\"It is our will and independent mode of counteraction to
\nrespond to the U.S. hard line with a super hard line,\" the
\nofficial newspaper said.<\/p>\n
While spurning a U.S. call to resume talks ruptured since
\nMarch, Pyongyang said on Monday it sought to improve relations
\nwith Washington, Seoul's staunch ally since North Korea invaded
\nthe South in 1950 to ignite the Korean War.<\/p>\n
\"It is good, not bad, to improve the DPRK-U.S. relations,\"
\nsaid a Rodong Shinmun commentary, using the acronym for the
\nDemocratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.<\/p>\n
In Beijing on Monday, European Union diplomats told reporters
\nafter an Oct. 27-30 visit to North Korea that Pyongyang officials
\nshowed strong interest in improving ties with Washington and
\nSeoul.<\/p>\n
\"They repeated this several times that they are really keen to
\nresume contacts with the South Koreans and with the United
\nStates,\" said Patrick van Haute, director of the Asia department
\nof the Belgian Foreign Ministry.<\/p>\n
In what could be a significant move, North Korea sent a three-
\nmember delegation to attend a three-day meeting of the Council
\nfor Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP), which
\nopened in Washington on Monday.<\/p>",
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