Seoul Hopes Terror Won't Spoil Talks

The South Korean government is nervouly assessing the possible effects of the apparent terrorist attacks in the United States on inter-Korean relations.

Officials fear that if North Korea postpones the talks, which would be the fifth round of inter-Korean ministerial-level negotiations, the hard-won government-to-government channel of dialogue between the two Koreas could be disrupted again.

The four-day talks are scheduled to open Saturday in Seoul.

Government officials, taking an optimistic tack, said, "Given North Korea's attitude so far, the fifth round of ministerial-level talks will be held as expected."

Seoul officials said they plan to deliver the list of the five South Korean delegates, which includes Unification Minister Hong Soon-young, to the North Thursday.

"The government will continue to work through the ministerial-level talks resolutely and calmly focusing on the original aim of improving inter-Korean relations," an official at the Ministry of Unification said.

"North Korea will note the rising criticism against the hard-line policies of the Bush administration and respond positively to inter-Korean dialogue," Koh Yu-hwan, professor of North Korean Studies at Dongkuk University, predicted.

Those who took an opposing stand were no less vociferous. They claimed that the attacks would be detrimental to inter-Korean relations from the standpoint of Kim Jong-il's visit and improvement of ties between the North and Washington.

Chon Hyun-joon, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said Seoul needs to provide incentives to the North for the North Korean leader's visit to take place. But, he said, "it is ill-timed for our government to try to persuade the United States, which does not find the provision of electricity to the North that agreeable."

Since it has been confirmed that the United States will strengthen its hard-line policy toward countries thought to support terrorism, including North Korea, Pyongyang is finding it difficult to meet U.S. demands, and resumption of dialogue between the two countries is likely to be further delayed, other political analysts said.

by Lee Young-jong