Expert: Summit may have negative impact on Japan

A South Korean protester burns a portrait of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il during an anti-North Korea rally against two Koreas summit near the President House in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2007. South Korea insisted Thursday that this month's summit with North Korea would help efforts to rid the communist nation of nuclear weapons, while Washington said the international focus on disarming the North remained with six-nation talks that include the U.S. and regional powers. The Korean letters read 'Oppose two Koreas summit.' (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)


Expert: Summit may have negative impact on Japan

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Wednesday's announcement of a planned North-South Korea summit meeting has sparked concern over a possible rift between Tokyo and Seoul over policies related to Pyongyang.
The summit talks between South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il are scheduled to take place at a time when Roh's party faces a presidential election in December and the president's term ends in about six months.
Keio University Prof. Masao Okonogi, a specialist in Korean politics, said holding the summit meeting in Pyongyang could draw censure.
"During the previous North-South Korea summit talks, the countries decided to hold the next summit meeting in Seoul. It would be excusable if they have [the summit] in [the demilitarized zone at] Panmunjom, but [Roh's] visit to Pyongyang likely will cause criticism," he said.
Okonogi has speculated that the South Koreans will not have high expectations for the talks, unlike Roh's administration, which has high expectations of a positive impact on the upcoming presidential election.
"With the visit by the president, South Korea probably wants to set the stage so it can play a key role in denuclearizing North Korea before steps to denuclearize a North Korean facility are discussed at a plenary meeting of six-party talks, which likely will be held in early September. I think North Korea, for its part, intends to let South Korea take the credit," Okonogi said. "But this means the policy gap between Japan and South Korea on North Korea would expand further."
The widening gap is likely to deal a fresh blow to diplomatic efforts by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration.
"The Abe administration, which has prioritized resolving the abduction issue, is unlikely to change its policy toward North Korea. More and more differences with countries seeking a conciliatory policy [on Pyongyang] likely will become clear," Okonogi added.
(Aug. 9, 2007)



Koreas' summit: Kim terms talks as vital

Associated Press
Saturday, August 11, 2007 (Seoul)
Holding the first talks in seven years between the leaders of the two Koreas is more important than the actual agenda of the upcoming summit, South Korea's former president Kim Dae-jung said on Saturday.
Kim's ''sunshine policy'' of engagement with North Korea led to the historic meeting with its leader Kim Jong Il in 2000.
The summit was the first between the two countries' leaders after more than 47 years of hostilities, and was widely considered a success.
Current South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun is set to travel to Pyongyang, the North's capital, for the second summit from Aug 28-30 with Kim Jong Il.
The leaders of the two Koreas ''will be able to produce good results if they have heart-to-heart talks,'' Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung quoted former president Kim as saying after their 20-minute meeting Saturday.
Lee visited Kim's residence to seek advice on how to prepare for the summit.
No agenda
Kim said he had not fully set the agenda ahead of the summit in 2000, adding the meeting produced a good outcome simply through dialogue, said Lee.
No agenda has yet been established for the upcoming talks.
A meeting is expected between officials from both countries next week at Kaesong on the summit's arrangements.
Kim Dae-jung also said the upcoming summit was important considering the ''political situations in Northeast Asia,'' Lee told reporters.
Lee did not elaborate on Kim's comments. It may have been a reference to the recent progress in ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
Pyongyang shutdown its sole functioning nuclear reactor in July in return for energy aid, the first tangible step toward the North's disarmament in years.
The 1950-1953 Korean War ended in a cease-fire that has never been replaced with a peace treaty leaving the two Koreas technically at war.