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BEIJING, April 4 (Xinhuanet) -- The current
visit by a South
Korean special envoy to the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea
(DPRK) will create a new opportunity for the stalled
peace process
on the Korean Peninsula, but obstacles blocking all-round
dialogue
and cooperation remain, analysts here say.
Lim
Dong-won, South Korean President Kim Dae-jung's adviser,
started a
three-day visit to Pyongyang Wednesday, the first public
high-level
contact between the two sides since last November when
a sixth
bilateral ministerial meeting ended with no results.
His
visit also came following weeks of angry words between the
DPRK and
the United States, triggered by U.S. President George W.
Bush's
labeling of the Asian country as part of an "axis of evil"
along with
Iraq and Iran.
Analysts say that Lim's visit brings a
chance for the two sides
to embark on a path to dialogue, as the trip
itself signals the
strong wish of both parties to continue their cause
of
reconciliation, cooperation and exchange, as enshrined in the
North-South Joint Declaration.
The declaration was
issued in June 2000 during a historic
summit between Kim Dae-jung and
DPRK leader Kim Jong Il.
Reviewing the three-decade
history of their contact since the
signing of the North-South Joint
Statement, analysts see that
dialogue and cooperation have
dominated despite zigzags and are
the best way to push the
peninsula towards peace and unification,
which is in the basic
interest of the Korean people on both sides.
In the
current situation, the dynamics and possibility of
resuming talks are
still there, the analysts hold.
The DPRK, at the beginning
of this year, set 2002 as a year to
promote national unity and
unification at a joint conference of
the government and party, and
have held a spate of activities to
boost cooperation and
unification.
The South also expressed its wish through
various channels to
restart dialogue and carry out accords agreed upon
with the north.
"Peace and stability on the Korean
peninsula are most important,
and I hope to see agreement on national
reconciliation and
cooperation on the sincere implementation of
North-South projects
already agreed upon," Kim Dae-jung
said.
In addition, the DPRK will hold large-scale
activities to mark
the 90th birthday of late leader Kim Il Sung, which
falls on April
15.
South Korea will host the 17th World
Cup Soccer Tournament in
June and the 14th Asian Games in
September-October.
Dialogue and cooperation between the
north and south are needed
to maintain a stable situation on the
peninsula to ensure the
smooth proceeding of the
events.
The two sides have said they will take Lim's visit
to discuss
the grave situation on the peninsula and issues that
concern both.
They will take the opportunity to examine
the current situation
inside and outside the peninsula closely and try
to look for a new
breakthrough for the resumption of all-around
negotiations and
cooperation, the analysts say.
Besides carrying a personal message from Kim Dae-jung to his
DPRK
counterpart Kim Jong Il, Lim's mission also includes trying
to revive
stalled North-South cooperation projects.
These projects
include resuming reunions of families divided
since the 1950 Korean
War, restoring North-South roads and
railways, and a project to build
a South Korean industrial park in
the North.
The
president's adviser, who played an important role in
masterminding the
2000 summit between the two Kims, will also try
to help realize Kim
Jong Il's visit to Seoul as promised two years
ago and persuade the
DPRK to restart talks with the United States
and
Japan.
Lim's trip to the North is just
a high-level contact rather
than the start of an all-around dialogue,
the analysts say, adding
that obstacles still exist.
The biggest barrier hindering the health development of the
inter-Korean ties lies in the development of DPRK-U.S. relations,
which are closely related with the North-South Korean relations.
Since Bush took office a year ago, the just thawed
DPRK-U.S.
relations have turned cold as the Bush administration has
adopted
hawkish policies to the DPRK and imposed political and
military
pressure on it regarding the issue of weapons of massive
destruction.
Bilateral ties have further worsened as
Bush labeled in January
the DPRK as part of an "axis of evil" in his
State of the Union
speech.
Stressing that the core and
foundation of the North-South Joint
Declaration are national
self-determination, the DPRK said that
Seoul's cooperation with the
United States, which has had military
bases in South Korea, has
undermined the principle, and thus laid
a stumbling block to
North-South dialogue and cooperation.
It rapped South
Korea for taking vigilant measures and
conducting joint military war
games with the United States
following the September 11 terror attacks
on New York and
Washington last year.
Long-time
confrontation between the two Korean states is
another factor that
also impedes the advancement of inter-Korean
dialogue and
cooperation.
Enditem By Zhang Bihong
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