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S. Korea to send envoy to Pyongyang
SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- South Korea is to send a presidential envoy to North Korea next week as part of efforts to seek a peaceful resolution to the standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear program, officials say. Former reunification minister Lim Dong-won, a special adviser to President Kim Dae-jung is to visit the North on January 27, the president's office said Friday. The news was followed by an announcement from the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), that it would hold a special meeting of its board of governors meeting in Vienna on February 3 to discuss the North Korean nuclear issue. The meeting, which is not one of the IAEA's scheduled sessions, will decide whether to issues a resolution referring the matter to the U.N. Security Council. Earlier this week United States envoy Richard Bolton told reporters in Seoul he expected the matter to go before the council soon, possibly resulting in some form of sanctions being imposed against Pyongyang. North Korea has warned the United Nations that it would consider it an act of war if the Security Council imposes any sanctions in the continuing dispute. Summit callAccording to South Korean officials the president's envoy will travel to Pyongyang on a rare direct flight from the South to the North Korean capital where he hold two or three days of talks. He will be accompanied by an aide to South Korea's President-elect Roh Moo-hyun, who takes office next month. Roh himself told CNN Friday he planned to propose a summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il soon after taking power. (Full story) "I will propose to meet with Chairman Kim Jong Il even if I lose face in the eyes of my people because I value dialogue and think dialogue is the key," Roh said. The announcement of the envoys' visit came after officials from North and South Korea ended three days of high-level talks in Seoul. 'Active cooperation'Wrapping up the meetings Friday, a joint declaration said the two sides had "agreed to actively cooperate" to resolve the nuclear issue peacefully. However, South Korean officials said that despite intensive pressure the agreement did not mean that had made substantive progress in drawing any compromises from the North. "Although we have not been able to draw out a more progressive position on North Korea's nuclear issue, we have sufficiently delivered our and the international community's concern on the nuclear issue," a statement from the South Korean side said. South Korea, which has been pushing diplomatic efforts to find a solution to the standoff, has been keen to press the North to prove its claims that it is not developing nuclear weapons and does not plan to do so. North Korea has repeatedly said the dispute over its alleged weapons program lies solely with the United States and can only be resolved through bilateral dialogue with Washington. 'Positive development'However, in recent days it appears to have softened its position, expressing a willingness to accept mediation from the South. Before boarding a plane back to Pyongyang Friday the North Korea delegation welcomed the agreement to work with their southern neighbors on finding a peaceful solution to the standoff. In a statement they said they agreement was "a positive development that brightens the future of South-North Korean relations and provides hope, confidence and optimism." During their meetings, South Korean officials say they were told the North had no plans to develop nuclear weapons. North Korea has denied U.S. claims that it admitted to having secret nuclear weapons program, saying Washington fabricated the admission for its own hostile aims.
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