Reconciliation of political, economic and other different ties between North and South Korea has finally been kicked off when a strong 50-people South Korean delegation under Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung visited Pyongyang, previously scheduled just after the initial success of the six-nation talks in Beijing on 13 February, for the first Cabinet-level inter-Korean negotiations.
All ties between both the Koreas had earlier been broken due to the North’s defiant stance over their critical nuclear program and the South suspend its annual aid of 500,000 tones of rice and 350,000 tones of fertilizer after the North tested a series of ballistic missiles last year.
Mr. Lee urged the North to implement its nuclear agreement pledges, to ’shut down and seal’ its Yongbyon nuclear reactor within 60 days in return for fuel aid, as early as possible, so the lost goals could be achieved with minimum fuss.
Resumption of all important food aid and humanitarian projects are some of the major issues of discussion during these inter-Korean talks.
Inspired by the result oriented talks between North and South Korea, Japan also have plans to hold bilateral talks, possibly to discuss the dispute over some of its citizens kidnapped by the North in the 1970s and 80s, with the North next week to regularize their disturbed ties.
Bilateral meeting between Japan and North Korea would go off next week in Hanoi, capital of Vietnam, where Japan is expected to push North Korea for a satisfactory answer on the abduction of its citizens. Mr. Shiozaki, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary, said,
There will be no normalizing of ties without a resolution of the abduction issue.
Japan may have denied the recommencement of diplomatic relations, on the abduction of its citizens, with Pyongyang, fresh talks and moves by various nations certainly has paved the way for peace process in the east Asia.
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