DMZ arms key to any talks

The issue of North Korea's conventional weapons has again become a hot issue between the United States and the two Koreas. U.S. President George W. Bush, in a Washington interview on Friday that included the JoongAng Ilbo, stressed the importance of "moving back" the North's conventional weapons.

"President Bush seems to understand the North's weapons of mass destruction as the next target of the U.S. war against terrorism and conventional weapons as an immediate threat to U.S. and South Korean troops," said a South Korean government official, who asked not to be named.

South Korean military authorities say Pyeongyang's long-range artillery and Scud- B and -C missiles are capable of inflicting heavy losses on U.S. and South Korean forces on the peninsula. The officials said the North's 1,000 long-range artillery pieces positioned along the Demilitarized Zone could reach targets as far south as Suwon, Gyeonggi province.

The South Korean government said Mr. Bush's statement is nothing new; a pull back of the North's conventional weapons was included in an agenda outlined by the White House last June. But privately officials in Seoul said they are pinning their hopes on Mr. Bush not making the realignment of the North's conventional weapons a prerequisite for Pyeongyang-Washington dialogue.

Given the Bush administration's recent hard-line stance toward the North, some officials conceded that Seoul may no longer be able to take the lead in efforts to win concessions from the North on conventional weapons while Washington leads talks on Pyeongyang's nuclear and biochemical arsenal. Dealing with the range of potential threats from Pyeongyang is becoming a question to be worked out in collaboration with Washington regardless of the type of weapon.

Pyeongyang's conventional weapons can be dealt with under a long-term proposal centered on forming mutual trust between the two Koreas. One key to building trust, government officials said, is relinking the Gyeongui railroad, which runs through the DMZ. The planned visit by Mr. Bush and President Kim Dae-jung to Dorasan Station on the Gyeongui line is an opportunity to reaffirm their mutual commitment to peace on the Korean Peninsula.

by Oh Young-hwan