NKorea suspends first inter-Korean dialogue: Officials
21 January, 2008
SEOUL: North Korea has postponed the first inter-Korean dialogue of this year, citing time constraints, South Korean officials said Monday. The two sides were to hold working-level talks Tuesday and Wednesday on repairing a cross-border railway and transporting a joint cheering squad to the Beijing Olympics this year by train. But Pyongyang asked for a suspension, saying "It is the start of the year and there are a few things to prepare," the South`s unification ministry said. "We don`t know exactly why North Korea decided to suspend this week`s inter-Korean meeting," a ministry spokesman told AFP. He refused to confirm Yonhap news agency`s report that the suspension was an apparent sign of uneasiness over the next South Korean government`s tougher stance on Pyongyang. The transition team of president-elect Lee Myung-Bak said last week it would shut down the unification ministry, which handles relations with the North, as part of moves to streamline the administration. Lee, a conservative who takes office on February 25, has pledged to take a firmer line with the North and review sweeping joint economic projects agreed by the leaders of the two countries at an October summit. These include a "peace zone" encompassing a joint economic zone around the North`s Haeju city. The South also pledged help to repair the North`s dilapidated railways up to the border with China. A cross-border railway cargo service to Kaesong, just north of the frontier, started in early December for the first time since the 1950-53 Korean War. A joint survey of Haeju is scheduled for January 31 along with a flurry of inter-Korean talks in January and February, including plans to expand a Seoul-funded industrial complex at Kaesong. COURTESY: AFP
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