N. Korea to Seek Own Membership in U.N. : Asia: Seoul previously announced plans to apply. The north had insisted on a single application.

Communist North Korea, taking a step toward possible relaxation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula, said Tuesday that it will apply for United Nations membership at the same time that South Korea does.

The capitalist government in Seoul had previously announced plans to seek U.N. membership this year and had urged North Korea to apply also.

Until now, Pyongyang has argued that separate north and south memberships would perpetuate the division of the Korean nation and insisted that only a joint application as a single Korea would be acceptable.

Tuesday’s announcement, the north’s official Korean Central News Agency reported, modified this stance but still contained sharp criticism of the south. It indicated that Pyongyang’s change was prompted by fear that Seoul alone would win a U.N. seat.

South Korean leaders “are committing never-to-be-condoned treason to divide Korea into two parts through the U.N. arena by trying to force their way into the United Nations against the desire of the entire Korean nation for reunification,” the North Korean Foreign Ministry charged in a statement announcing the new policy.

“As the (South Korean authorities) insist on their unilateral U.N. membership, if we leave this alone, important issues related to the interests of the entire Korean nation would be dealt with in a biased manner,” it said. “We can never let it go that way. . . . The (North Korean) government has no alternative but to enter the United Nations.”

Despite such rhetoric, Seoul responded favorably Tuesday.

“We hope the entry by South and North Korea into the United Nations will become a big turning point in establishing peace and stability not only on the Korean Peninsula but also in Northeast Asia,” the South Korean Foreign Ministry said.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler said: “U.N. membership for both Koreas will contribute to inter-Korean dialogue and eventual unification. We welcome this announcement.”

Both countries have U.N. observer status. The issue of full membership has been a key point of conflict in reconciliation talks, now suspended, between the prime ministers of the north and south. Both governments reiterated Tuesday their hopes for eventual reunification.

Until recently, Pyongyang could count on the Soviet Union and China to veto any separate U.N. application from Seoul. But Moscow granted diplomatic recognition to Seoul in September, and Beijing’s unofficial ties with Seoul are warming rapidly. Chinese Premier Li Peng is believed to have warned Pyongyang during a recent visit that China would not veto South Korea’s application.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Tuesday called Pyongyang’s announcement “beneficial to promoting dialogue between North and South Korea and enhancing peace and stability in the peninsula.”

It is unclear whether internal political factors in Pyongyang may also have influenced the north’s decision. An unconfirmed report has circulated recently among some Western diplomats in Beijing that North Korean President Kim Il Sung, 79, had a heart attack earlier this month and that his son and presumed successor, Kim Jong Il, 49, was exercising authority.

U.N. General Assembly President Guido de Marco, speaking at a news conference here Tuesday before beginning an official two-day visit to Pyongyang, said he had little doubt that the applications of both Koreas will be approved.