Koreas to hold first summit for seven years

A North Korean soldier, left, looks at South Korean soldier. Photograph: AP


Koreas to hold first summit for seven years


Staff and agencies
Wednesday August 8, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

North and South Korea today announced their first summit in seven years amid continuing international efforts to make the north abandon nuclear weapons.
But political commentators said the landmark meeting - only the second between the two countries since partition after the second world war - was more about internal politics than the push for Pyongyang's nuclear disarmament.
North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-il, will host the summit, from August 28 until August 30, according to a security adviser for the South Korean president, Roh Moo-hyun.
Outwardly, both sides were full of optimism about the meeting. "[It] will help inter-Korean relations and provide fresh momentum to improve North Korea's international relations," a spokesman quoted Mr Roh as saying.
The two countries have yet to agree a formal peace treaty over the Korean war, which ended in a ceasefire in 1953 after three years of fighting.
The first north-south summit, in June 2000, led to economic cooperation projects and to reunions of thousands of relatives separated by the world's most heavily fortified border.
Steps to bring the Koreas closer together have faltered because of political deadlock since 2002 over North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
The summit comes as the first progress is made on disarmament since the crisis began, with North Korea agreeing last month to shut down its sole operating nuclear reactor in exchange for oil aid.
The US and regional powers are negotiating with the north, hoping to agree a timeline for it to declare all its nuclear programmes ended and facilities disabled.
But North Korea has refused to engage South Korea on the issue. Pyongyang views the nuclear issue as a dispute with Washington, which means the new summit is unlikely to end in much more than a bland declaration.
"The summit is not going to contribute to the resolution of the nuclear issue in any way. But be prepared for another wave of unification euphoria in the south," Brian Myers, associate professor of international relations at Dongseo University and a North Korea specialist, told Reuters.


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The Koreas talk of talking again

SEOUL - North Korea confirmed on Wednesday that the leaders of the two Koreas will hold summit talks in Pyongyang this month to promote reconciliation on the divided Korean Peninsula.
The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) confirmed the announcement by the South Korean presidential office Cheong Wa Dae (the Blue House) that President Roh Moo-hyun will travel to Pyongyang to meet his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-il from August 28-30.
"The meeting between the top leaders of the North and the South will be of weighty significance in opening a new phase of peace on the Korean Peninsula, co-prosperity of the nation, and national reunification by expanding and developing the inter-Korean relations on to a higher stage in accordance with the historic June 15 North-South Joint Declaration and in the spirit of 'By our nation itself'," the KCNA said in a report monitored in Seoul.
The first inter-Korean summit in 2000 between then South Korean president Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-il led to reduced military tension and an unprecedented range of economic, social and cultural cooperation.
South Korea's top business organization hailed Wednesday's announcement. "Businesses hope the summit becomes a touchstone for eventual reunification of the Korean Peninsula," the Federation of Korean Industries said in a statement.
The summit is expected to allay geopolitical concerns on the Korean Peninsula and positively affect the recovery of South Korean economy, the federation said.
South and North Korea are still technically in a state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice instead of a peace treaty.
However, the two sides have made great strides in reconciliation projects and cross-border economic exchanges since the 2000 summit.
South Korean citizens and civic groups gave various reactions on Wednesday to the news of the summit.
"We welcome the announcement. The summit is necessary to ease the continuing nuclear tension on the Korean Peninsula," said Park Byung-ok, secretary general at the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice, a major civic group in Seoul.
"As the summit is being held before the presidential election, it might cause an unnecessary dispute over whether or not the summit has a political purpose," Park said. "The summit should be fruitful in order to dispel all the doubts." (See Roh gropes for a graceful exit, Asia Times Online, July 6.)
"I did not expect it to come, but I am glad to hear the news," said Park Jung-eun of the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, another leading Seoul-based civic organization. "The two Koreas must discuss establishing a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula."
Conservative civic groups, however, were skeptical on the motivation for the summit, given that the South Korean presidential election is only four months away.
"It is doubtful what the summit can bring when a resolution of the nuclear issue is being stalled," said Je Sung-ho, leader of the conservative New Right Union. "The incumbent president is only trying to to strengthen his support base ahead of the presidential election in December."
Shin Ji-ho, an official at the Liberty Union, also expressed concern that the summit was being arranged "with haste".
"We are not against the summit itself, as it can help improve the relationship between the North and the South," he said. "However, the fact that the announcement came only 20 days before the summit makes me doubt that proper preparations have been made."
(Yonhap/Asia Pulse)

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08-08-2007 16:07
Summit Less Likely to Pump Up Stocks

By Park Hyong-ki
Staff Reporter

The summit between the leaders of the two Koreas slated for the end of August helped boost general sentiment in stocks Wednesday but analysts said that the news is less likely to boost the market in the long term.
They said it's obviously good news but any positive impact will most likely to be short-lived.
Cheong Wa Dae announced Wednesday that President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il will hold a summit from Aug. 28-30 in Pyongyang.
``It's symbolic, and the meeting could excite investor sentiment. But it will be short-lived as we experienced in the past with the first landmark meeting,'' said Lee Woo-hyun, an analyst at Kyobo Securities.
Lee stressed that the market will be more susceptible to what the summit produces rather than the summit itself.
But the market is already expecting that there will be little chance for it to produce any solid substance that gets both sides to further strengthen bilateral economic ties.
He said the meeting will contribute to spurring stocks related to North Korean business such as construction and tourism though.
Chi Ki-ho, an analyst of Seoul Securities, echoed Lee's words saying that such an event won't hype Seoul stocks up as much as last time.
``Seoul stocks have been and always will be driven by fundamentals, and since the summit is more of a political play, I believe its influence on the market will be lot less than the first time around,'' said Chi.
Kang Moon-sung, an analyst of Korea Investment and Securities, also said, ``The market's momentum lies with strong fundamentals rather than special political events.''
Given the 2000 landmark summit which proved to have less of an impact on the main bourse, Kang said the August meeting is highly likely to have the same effect since the market has gradually become immune to politics over the years.
``The stock market has shown little sensitivity toward issues concerning North Korea, including the nuclear crisis, since the 2000 summit,'' said Kang. ``What this means is that politics and the economy are separating.''
In April 2000 when the presidential office announced that it would hold a summit in Pyongyang, Seoul stocks climbed 11 percent up to June, according to Daewoo Securities.
However, on June 15, the day of the summit in 2000, stocks plunged 6 percent, and foreign investors' stock purchasing started to slow down. Since the summit, stock prices only rose 5 percent for a month before undergoing corrections for the rest of 2000.
``This shows that sound fundamentals draw the broader market picture,'' said Kim Sung-joo, an analyst at Daewoo.
Shares of Hyundai Elevator and its sister firms posted strong gains on expectations that they will benefit from Hyundai Group's North Korean business projects.
Hyundai Elevator closed up 6.1 percent at 156,000 won and Hyundai Merchant added 9.1 percent to close at 51,400 won. Hyundai Securities also added 3.3 percent, up to 31,400. Unlisted Hyundai Asan is leading tourism and other business projects in the North. The benchmark KOSPI closed up 2.34 percent at 1,903.41.
phk@koreatimes.co.kr

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Two Koreas agree on peace talks


Jun Kwanwoo, Seoul
August 9, 2007

NORTH and South Korea have agreed to hold their first summit for seven years to promote peace on the peninsula, divided for 60 years by minefields and barbed wire.
President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il will meet in Pyongyang from August 28 to 30.
South Korea said the meeting was proposed by the North, which tested its first nuclear weapon last October but is moving towards shutting down its atomic program under a six-nation agreement.
The North's official Korean Central News Agency said the meeting would be important "in opening a new phase of peace".
A Seoul presidential office statement said Mr Roh and Mr Kim would discuss a formal peace treaty.
"The two leaders, through this summit, will be able to expand military trust-building measures and pave the way for establishing a peace regime on the Korean peninsula," it said.
"The talks will also provide momentum to settle the North Korean nuclear problem."
The US State Department gave its backing to the talks.
"We have long welcomed and supported North-South dialogue and hope that this meeting will help promote peace and security on the Korean peninsula, fulfilling the goals of the six-party talks," spokeswoman Joanne Moore said.
The only previous summit was in June 2000, when then-president Kim Dae-jung met the North's Kim in Pyongyang and ushered in a new era of reconciliation after half a century of hostility.
The two countries have remained technically at war since 1953, when the Korean conflict ended without a peace treaty.
The North last month shut down its Yongbyon reactor, which produced plutonium for its nuclear bombs, and has pledged to disable its atomic programs permanently.
That move was rewarded with 50,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil from the South.
If it permanently disables all its nuclear plants, it will receive another 950,000 tonnes of oil or equivalent aid.
The North will also get diplomatic and security benefits, such as normalised relations with the US and Japan.
Kim Man-bok, chief of the National Intelligence Service, said he visited the North twice this month to arrange the talks.
Brian Myers, associate professor of international relations at Dongseo University and a North Korea specialist, said the talks were "not going to contribute to the resolution of the nuclear issue. But be prepared for another wave of unification euphoria in the South."
Lee Dong-bok, from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Seoul, also questioned the talks.
"This summit will do little to boost the six-party talks because South Korea has no leverage in the process," he said. "It should have come after a breakthrough in the nuclear talks. Now it's the other way round.
"Therefore, the summit appears to have more to do with South Korea's presidential election in December."
AFP, REUTERS