At summit, Seoul to push a special envoy to North

South Korean government officials said Thursday that Seoul will propose resumption of inter-Korean dialogue this month after U.S. President George W. Bush's visit.

"We cannot wait around forever in this context, where it is difficult for North Korea to respond and come to the table for talks [with the United States or South Korea]," said an official at the South Korean Unification Ministry on condition of anonymity. He said that the ministry would propose to North Korea to reopen the dialogue that broke down between the two Koreas in November at Mount Geumgang.

The South Korean government is also considering sending a special envoy, jointly with the United States, if President Kim Dae-jung and Mr. Bush can come to an agreement, said Yim Sung-joon, senior Blue House secretary for foreign policy and national security. The two will meet at the summit on Wednesday.

North Korea watchers in Seoul believe that a special envoy to the North can provide a way out of the stalemate in relations between the Koreas and between North Korea and the United States. There are precedents for the use of special envoys. Lim Dong-won, former director of the National Intelligence Service, visited North Korea before the 2000 summit. The same year North Korean Vice Marshal Jo Myong-rok visited Washington and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright visited Pyeongyang. A special envoy would be charged with relaying Mr. Kim's and Mr. Bush's desire to work out the issue of weapons of mass destruction through dialogue.

Seoul's eagerness to press for contacts with North Korea comes in the context of tensions generated by Mr. Bush's "axis of evil" remark, which is seen here as a blow to Mr. Kim's "sunshine" policy.

Meanwhile, the Rodong Shinmun, the North Korean Workers' Party newspaper, on Thursday blasted the series of stern statements coming from the Bush administration as "absurd rhetoric," and said, "We will do our utmost to be ready for war in response to the United States' actions."

by Lee Young-jong