May 5, 2001	atimes.com

The Koreas Koreas: The ball's back in the US court SEOUL - South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, buoyed by good news from the North, on Friday called on the United States to conclude its North Korea policy review as soon as possible to enable a new peace-making summit between leaders of the Korean peninsula. "We very much hope the US policy review is concluded and the US-North Korea dialogue is resumed very soon,'' Kim told a joint press conference following his summit with Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson, who was in Seoul after a two-day visit in Pyongyang. Persson said he had relayed to Kim Dae-jung a "constructive message'' from North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. Persson and top European Union foreign policy and security officials arrived in Seoul on Thursday after a brief visit to Pyongyang, where they held several hours of talks with Kim Jong-il. Persson said Kim Jong-il told the European delegation he would maintain his country's 1999 moratorium on missile tests until 2003, and that North Korea was committed to reciprocating Kim Dae-jung's historic trip to Pyongyang for a summit last June as a part of his "sunshine" policy. "The North's decision to maintain its missile testing moratorium is more than what we had expected, and it will have a very positive effect on the resumption of the US-North Korea dialogue,'' Kim Dae-jung said. Persson said the apparent olive branch to Seoul and to Washington, which is reviewing its policy toward North Korea, needed to be backed up by concrete actions. "So far we have seen too little of action to be sure about the character of the partner we have in North Korea,'' Persson said. Kim Jong-il told the EU delegation the next summit with the South Korean president would only take place once Bush had completed his policy review on North Korea, Persson said. Bush has put ties with North Korea on hold since taking office in Washington, saying he didn't think Pyongyang would honor its pledges. North Korea subsequently called off several high-level contacts with South Korea and has fired up its propaganda guns against the United States The freeze in US-North Korean ties prompted the 15-nation European Union to pursue a more prominent role as a facilitator of inter-Korean dialogue. European officials, however, have said they do not intend to supplant Washington's critical role in resolving the Cold War-era conflict. "We will not replace the United States. It's not possible," Persson said. "It's nothing we want to do." Kim Jong-il also told the EU delegation that Pyongyang remained interested in exporting missile technology, another EU official told reporters. Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy and security chief, paraphrased Kim as saying: "Regarding exports of North Korean missile technology, export of technology is trade and if there are buyers, we'll sell.'' US defense analysts say North Korea is the world's leading exporter of ballistic missiles and related technology, mostly to the Middle East. North Korea stunned the world in 1998 when it test-fired its Taepodong missile. It agreed in September 1999 with Washington to suspend testing and exporting its long-range missiles while it was engaged in talks with the US on improving ties. Persson said he told Kim Jong-il on Thursday the EU would undertake economic cooperation and energy projects with North Korea but would keep human rights, democracy and market economics front and center in its relations with the communist state. "We will not compromise about that. And that is what I made perfectly clear yesterday,'' he said. Meanwhile, Kim and Persson agreed to step up their political dialogue and confirmed their partnership of cooperation in areas of trade, investment and technology, among others. The two leaders also agreed to hold a Korea-EU summit every other year. ((c)2001 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact content@atimes.com for information on our sales and syndication policies.)

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