North-South Talks Set?

Former unification minister Park Jae-kyu said Tuesday that he believes there is an unofficial agreement between Seoul and Pyongyang to reopen reconciliation talks soon.

At a luncheon with reporters assigned to the Unification Ministry, Mr. Park, who oversaw the South's preparations for the June 15 North-South Summit in Pyongyang last year, said he is still in touch with Jon Kum-jin. Mr. Jon represented the North at ministerial-level meetings.

Mr. Park said he was greatly moved when the two Kims signed the joint declaration.

"We had to persuade the North Korean officials for three hours to get Kim Jong-il to sign the agreement personally," Mr. Park said. "I was worried that he would postpone signing it."

He added that, "Pyongyang will conform to the agreement since Kim Jong-il, who is considered god-like in the North, signed it."

At a banquet during the summit Mr. Park said he refused to drink, having given up alcohol 17 years earlier.

"Chairman Kim said, 'I quit drinking cognac five years ago, but I cannot help but have one drink on this auspicious occasion,'" Mr. Park said. "So, I had no choice but to drink one glass."

The former minister said that Hyundai Asan should renegotiate an agreement with the North again on how to manage the company's overdue payments for the right to operate tours to the North's Mount Kumgang.

He added that he has plans to visit North Korea again, but he said he will wait until the governments of the two countries start talking again so that his presence will not be misconstrued.

by Lee Young-jong