Seoul, May 05: South Korea urged North Korea to soften its stance in the stand-off over its nuclear weapons drive as the two Koreas opened a fresh round of high-level talks in Pyongyang today, media pool reports said. South Korea's chief delegate to the inter-Korean ministerial talks, Unification Minister Jeong Se-Hyun, also suggested the two sides resume military talks this month on reducing tension in their disputed waters. The talks come ahead of preliminary negotiations in Beijing next week aimed at clearing the way for a new round of six-nation discussions to end the impasse over North Korea's nuclear ambitions. "A step forward toward a peaceful settlement of the nuclear issue must be made at the Beijing talks," Jeong was quoted as saying in his keynote speech at the opening of the high-level talks.
"And at the third round of six-nation talks, tangible steps for the solution of the nuclear issue must be agreed upon," he said, according to the South Korean pool reports. The North's response was not immediately reported. Jeong said in Seoul yesterday that North Korea had hinted at showing "flexibility" in the nuclear impasse when its leader Kim Jong-II visited China last month.
The row over the Pyongyang's nuclear program has been simmering since October 2002 when Washington accused North Korea of breaking a 1994 nuclear freeze by launching a secret weapons drive.
Bureau Report