Korean Talks End Amid Signs of Compromise

The first round of historic talks between senior officials of North and South Korea ended on a relatively upbeat note Thursday, with each side hinting at compromise in two areas where bitter disagreements have traditionally soured relations--U.N. membership and family exchanges.

No major agreement was announced after the close of the second day of deliberations between the prime ministers of each country and high-ranking political and military delegates.

But the spokesman for the South Korean side said that the Seoul government will not pursue an application for separate entry into the United Nations, projecting some flexibility in response to the North Korean demand that the two Koreas share a single U.N. seat.

In turn, the North Korean side appeared ready to soften its stance on suspended border talks between the Red Cross organizations in the north and the south, which had promoted humanitarian exchanges until the north cut them off to protest joint military exercises held by South Korean and U.S. forces.

The North Korean spokesman suggested a willingness to resume the talks despite continued objections to the maneuvers.

“Although we had many differences, there were also many common areas, so we are not at all pessimistic,” An Byong Su, head of North Korea’s reunification agency, told reporters.

“Unlike previous contacts, in this meeting both sides laid out their ideas frankly and honestly, and this helped us understand each other’s position,” An said. “We think this is a big step forward.”

An and his counterpart, Hong Sung Chul, minister of South Korea’s Unification Board, smiled and appeared highly amicable during a news conference shortly after the North Korean delegation paid a courtesy call on President Roh Tae Woo.

Roh told the visitors that he hoped to hold a summit meeting with North Korean President Kim Il Sung to chart a course for cooperation and eventual reunification, according to a presidential aide.

“Korea cannot remain the last divided nation on earth, separated by Cold War,” Roh was quoted as saying.

North Korea has ignored Roh’s previous calls for a summit meeting.

The talks between North Korean Prime Minister Yon Hyong Muk and South Korea’s prime minister, Kang Young Hoon, marked the highest level of political contact ever made between the two Koreas, which were divided at the end of the World War II and fought each other in a bloody conflict between 1950 and 1953.

Hong said he hopes that the two sides will reach agreement on South Korea’s eight-point proposal for reducing tension on the peninsula when delegates meet for a second time Oct. 16-19 in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang.

An, however, was more guarded about the prospects for a breakthrough next month.

“The basic difference is that the south wants step-by-step exchanges to build up confidence, and to us this seems that they want to buy time,” An said. “We believe an overall solution for political and military matters should precede gradual exchanges. This difference of opinion seems likely to last for some time in the future.”

But he added that working-level representatives from both sides would meet next week at the border truce village of Panmunjom to discuss the U.N. issue and the resumption of the Red Cross talks.

Barring any snafus over procedure, which have been common in the past, it seemed that the inter-Korean dialogue was likely to gain some momentum in the coming weeks.

Opening positions outlined by each side on the first day of talks Wednesday consisted largely of old proposals and demands that had been issued repeatedly over the last several years, often in the emotionally charged tones of a long and bitter propaganda war. These talks were notable, however, for their absence of histrionics and their relatively low-key, constructive tone.

Negotiators went into Thursday’s closed session with a wide gulf separating them, though. Particularly threatening to progress were three familiar demands by North Korea: that the south drop its separate-seat formula for entering the United Nations, cease joint military training with U.S. troops and release political prisoners being punished for making unauthorized trips to the north.

It is unclear how far the South Koreans went Thursday in answering the latter two points. A local newspaper, the Joongang Daily News, quoted unidentified officials as saying that the south agreed to consider suspending the joint maneuvers if the north removed offensive forces from advanced deployment along the border. It said also that the south would release the dissident travelers from prison if the north agreed to open travel, mail and transportation links.

North Korea’s demand for the withdrawal of the 44,000 U.S. troops stationed in the south and the removal of nuclear weapons allegedly deployed there remains a significant stumbling block.

“The south raised the question of not interfering in each other’s internal affairs,” said An, the spokesman for the North Korean delegation. “But we believe that the withdrawal of nuclear weapons from the Korean peninsula and the release of people who visited the north are not separate issues from this meeting. They are connected directly with the agenda.”

The dissidents--two priests, an opposition member of the National Assembly and a female university student--were sentenced to prison terms of up to 10 years for violating South Korea’s Draconian law on national security.

During the one-hour visit to the Blue House, as the presidential palace is called, the delegates received gifts of traditional celadon pottery and Gold Star brand cameras. Later in the evening, they attended a banquet given by the Speaker of South Korea’s National Assembly and met opposition leaders, including the charismatic Kim Dae Jung, who once was jailed on trumped-up charges of sedition under Roh’s dictatorial predecessors.

The North Korean entourage of seven officials, 33 aides and 50 reporters was scheduled to return north this morning by motorcade through Panmunjom.

Several minor incidents marred the visit, including a traffic accident that slightly injured two of the delegates on their way to the Inter-Continental Hotel, where the talks were held under extremely tight security. On Wednesday, a brawl occurred after police officers blocked North Korean reporters from approaching a small band of student radicals outside the hotel.

More students and dissidents tried to make contact with the North Koreans on Thursday--including relatives of people jailed for visiting Pyongyang last year--but were stopped and taken into custody by plainclothes policemen.

Researcher Chi Jung Nam contributed to this story.