`Seoul to separate ship sinking from denuke process`

The government will make clear guidelines that it will separate North Korea’s apologies on the Cheonan sinking and Yeonpyeong Island attack from Pyongyang`s denuclearization process.

The process will start with inter-Korean dialogue then move on U.S.-North Korea talks and finally to the resumption of the six-party nuclear talks.

A South Korean government source said Monday, “We should have consistently separated the apologies for the Cheonan sinking and Yeonpyeong attack from the denuclearization process. But there was some confusion.”

The separation is not a new policy but voices in the government are mixed over the relationship between the two issues.

Seoul appears to deliver the message that Pyongyang should respond to the denuclearization talks by stressing that the two issues are separate. The North has refused to apologize for the attacks and agree to hold inter-Korean talks.

Government officials in Seoul say the South will not make the North take all preliminary steps on denuclearization in inter-Korean talks, the first step of the process, while maintaining the denuclearization process.

Seoul has asked Pyongyang to take preliminary steps in denuclearization, saying inter-Korean talks should not be simply a passage of rites. With the separation, the South apparently intends to have a strategic flexibility by allowing the North to move on to bilateral talks with the U.S. without fully implementing all preliminary steps.

Such steps include a halt to the North`s production of nuclear weapons and experiments, the launch of ballistic missiles, allowing the return of the international inspectors to the nuclear site in Yongbyun, and the inspection of its uranium enrichment program.

zeitung@donga.com