The North gives less than warm support to America—not surprisingly
Sep 20th 2001
AFTER refusing official contacts with South Korea since March for no obvious reason except annoyance with America's new president, George Bush, North Korea abruptly changed its mind and the two sides met this week. The South had hoped that at the conclusion of the talks on September 18th the two countries would make a joint declaration denouncing terrorism. But the North apparently said no. The United States will have to make do with the strong support offered by the South's president, Kim Dae Jung, after the attacks in New York and Washington. The North separately condemned the attacks, but almost in the same breath condemned the United States for its “ambition for world domination”.
Despite the North's emergence from isolation by establishing diplomatic ties with capitalist countries, it remains on America's list of states that sponsor terrorism. The North is believed to have sold arms and missiles to several countries, among them Iran and Pakistan. South Koreans fervently hope that the North has nothing to do with the American atrocities; any involvement would have a devastating effect on the warming relations between the two countries.
At this week's talks the two sides agreed to another set of reunions next month of families separated since the Korean war of 1950-53. The officials will meet again in October (if the North's communist rulers do not change their mind at the last minute, as they often have done in the past) to discuss ways to reconnect a railway across the border. The Korean line might eventually be linked to the Trans-Siberian railway. The Korean teams also have in mind a cross-border land route for southern tourists travelling to Mount Kumgang in the North, as well as research to control floods and a plan to open both countries' territorial waters to commercial vessels.
But peaceful co-operation on the Korean peninsula, which has been divided for more than half a century, seems a long way off. The border remains sealed and ordinary people have no mail or telephone links. The North is convinced that it is better to receive than to give. Suffering from a shortage of electricity, for instance, the North continues to ask to be linked to the South's grid. That would require a nod from the United States, the South's close ally. But the Americans may not at the moment be in a co-operative mood
Sep 20th 2001
AFTER refusing official contacts with South Korea since March for no obvious reason except annoyance with America's new president, George Bush, North Korea abruptly changed its mind and the two sides met this week. The South had hoped that at the conclusion of the talks on September 18th the two countries would make a joint declaration denouncing terrorism. But the North apparently said no. The United States will have to make do with the strong support offered by the South's president, Kim Dae Jung, after the attacks in New York and Washington. The North separately condemned the attacks, but almost in the same breath condemned the United States for its “ambition for world domination”.
Despite the North's emergence from isolation by establishing diplomatic ties with capitalist countries, it remains on America's list of states that sponsor terrorism. The North is believed to have sold arms and missiles to several countries, among them Iran and Pakistan. South Koreans fervently hope that the North has nothing to do with the American atrocities; any involvement would have a devastating effect on the warming relations between the two countries.
At this week's talks the two sides agreed to another set of reunions next month of families separated since the Korean war of 1950-53. The officials will meet again in October (if the North's communist rulers do not change their mind at the last minute, as they often have done in the past) to discuss ways to reconnect a railway across the border. The Korean line might eventually be linked to the Trans-Siberian railway. The Korean teams also have in mind a cross-border land route for southern tourists travelling to Mount Kumgang in the North, as well as research to control floods and a plan to open both countries' territorial waters to commercial vessels.
But peaceful co-operation on the Korean peninsula, which has been divided for more than half a century, seems a long way off. The border remains sealed and ordinary people have no mail or telephone links. The North is convinced that it is better to receive than to give. Suffering from a shortage of electricity, for instance, the North continues to ask to be linked to the South's grid. That would require a nod from the United States, the South's close ally. But the Americans may not at the moment be in a co-operative mood
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