'So far, so good' on Korea peace talks
August 5, 1997
Web posted at: 10:30 p.m. EDT (0230 GMT)In this story:
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Preliminary talks to formally end the Korean War got off to an encouraging start on Tuesday.
North Korea pledged Tuesday to honor the truce that ended the Korean War 44 years ago, while agreeing to continue planning the peace talks.
The North Korean delegate, Kim Gye Gwan, said his country wanted a "fruitful conclusion" to the talks and indicated a willingness to discuss confidence-building measures with the South.
CNN's Richard Roth reports
1 min., 45 sec. VXtreme streaming video
Meeting at New York City's Columbia University, Kim joined delegates from China, South Korea and the United States to discuss a lasting peace on the divided Asian peninsula.
The goal of these "talks about talks" was to set a date and agenda for launching substantive negotiations to replace the fraying 1950-53 Korean War armistice with a more permanent peace, presumably in a treaty. If all this can be worked out this week, the substantive negotiations are expected to start in September.
North's food crisis is a factor
Getting North Korea to the table has proved difficult. But a food crisis in that country is so desperate that experts believe the North needs to keep talking to help its starving people.
Publicly little was said, but professors at Columbia University, host of the talks, offered some insight. "The fact that for the first time since the 1950s all four of the major parties involved in the Korean war are meeting outside of the Korean peninsula to reach an agreement toward peace is in itself a very significant event," said Korean history professor Charles Armstrong.
In the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, the official Central News Agency quoted an unidentified North Korean Foreign Ministry official as saying the parties should "create a new, binding institutional mechanism to replace the armistice body."
In the meantime, North Korea will abide by the terms of the 1953 armistice, the official was quoted as saying. In the past, the North Koreans have often raised doubts about whether they still consider the armistice valid.
North Korea had long sought direct talks with the United States to replace the armistice, but refused to discuss the issue with South Korea, branding it a "puppet state." But the desperate need for food and other assistance since the collapse of the Soviet Union has pushed the North into a more conciliatory stand.
Four-party talks were proposed last year
President Clinton and South Korean President Kim Young-sam proposed four-party negotiations more than a year ago. After protracted haggling, the North finally agreed to the proposal June 30.
"I hope we have good dialogue," South Korea's delegate, Deputy Foreign Minister Song Young Shik Song, said as the talks started. His North Korean counterpart, Kim, chimed in: "It all depends on how we coordinate."
U.S. and South Korean officials have learned long ago to be patient and to expect the unexpected in dealing with North Korea. But the initiation of the four-nation talks may prove to be the launching point toward resolving the flashpoint of the Korean peninsula.
U.S. officials were anxious to hear what demands China would bring to the table. China maintained close relations with North Korea for years, although those ties have been frayed somewhat since the death in 1994 of longtime North Korean leader Kim Il Sung.
China, which also maintains diplomatic relations with South Korea, apparently wants to play a major role in future security arrangements in North Asia.
"So far, so good good," Chinese delegation head Chien Jian told reporters at the conclusion of the morning session.
Senior Correspondent Richard Roth and Reuters contributed to this report.
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Related sites:
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- Korean War MIA/POW - Help Desk
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- Republic of Korea Ministry of National Defense
- Korea Herald
- North Korea Information
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