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Unification minister admits to secret inter-Korean contacts

Unification minister admits to secret inter-Korean contacts

Posted June. 02, 2011 22:37,   

한국어

South Korean Unification Minister Hyun In-taek admitted Thursday that secret inter-Korean contacts did take place.

“The basic objective of the contacts was to demand that North Korea make an official apology for its attacks on the South Korean naval vessel Cheonan and Yeonpyeong Island,” he told a parliamentary interpellation session of the government.

“(North Korea) claims that contacts were made in secret at the request of the South Korean government to seek an inter-Korean summit, but this is not accurate.”

On the reason for the secret talks, Hyun said, “The reason was that it was impossible to hold talks with the North in public, with the North Korean side suddenly bolting from one meeting calling the (South’s) accusations of its attacks ‘plots,’ when working-level meetings were held in public to prepare for high-level inter-Korean military talks.”

He also said there are no transcripts of the secret contacts.

On if Seoul proposed an inter-Korean summit in March next year ahead of the general elections scheduled for the following year, Hyun said, “We don`t hold undisclosed contacts with the North for political consideration or purpose,” adding, “The North’s announcement of the contacts is an act that destroys the basics of inter-Korean relations and should not and cannot occur.”

In the wake of Pyongyang’s sudden announcement of the inter-Korean contacts, Seoul is agonizing over how to respond. The South is being forced to fundamentally change its strategic framework that was set under the overall assumption of reopening inter-Korean dialogue and improving bilateral ties as the North keeps refusing to apologize for its attacks on the Cheonan and Yeonpyeong Island.

Government officials in Seoul say their government`s policy of pressuring the North is making progress, and that if Pyongyang realizes it can no longer withstand the situation, it will seek to resume dialogue with Seoul.

One official again said Thursday, “Sanctioning the North is apparently effective. The North cannot afford to resist for long.”

Even if sanctions remain on the North, however, Pyongyang has made it clear that it will snub dialogue with the incumbent administration in Seoul. So watchers say South Korea requires more fundamental reconsideration of its North Korea policy.

Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said, “The North’s sudden revelation indicates that Seoul’s policy of pressuring Pyongyang has not spawned practical effects,” adding, “The South needs to approach the North from a bigger framework.”



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