[Focus] Foreign minister addresses USIP

Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Lee Joung-Binn said Thursday that Seoul would not demand that Pyongyang agree to alter the U.S.-North Korean Geneva accord even if South Korea bows to its request to provide two million kw of electricity aid to the cash-strapped nation.

The remarks came during a question period with more than 30 Korea specialists after Lee gave an address on the outcome of Seoul`s engagement policy with Pyongyang. He gave the speech in a working breakfast in Washington sponsored by the United States Institute of Peace (USIP).

He was responding to a question of whether the proposed power assistance to the North should be used as an opportunity to change the 1994 Agreed Framework.

Following are excerpts from the Q&A:

--Won`t it be necessary to reinforce North Korea`s mandatory denuclearization through a revision or reinterpretation of the Geneva accord?

"North Korea has observed the framework agreement well. It asked for two million kw of electric power before the completion of the first nuclear reactor but no decision has been made."

--Isn`t the demand for two million kw, equivalent to the output of two reactors, a statement of North Korea`s interest in changing the Geneva agreement?

"It is only a one-sided demand. We are not ready to provide aid even if the proposed survey of the energy situation in the North Korea were to be made. Already, $800 million has been invested to build reactors and the sum will reach $1.2 billion next year. Changing the framework accord now is not possible at the moment."

--There should be some standard in the give-and-take between the two Koreas. It will require Seoul and Washington to fulfill different roles.

"We do not oppose reciprocity in dealing with North Korea. We are promoting flexible reciprocity; rigid reciprocity would be unrealistic."

--North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il will presumably remain in power after President Kim of the South leaves office. The South`s North Korea policies should be institutionalized. What are the objectives of the Kim Dae-Jung government`s pursuit of inter-Korean rapprochement?

"It will be impossible to settle all problems of inter-Korean relations under the presidency of Kim Dae-Jung. The Seoul government seeks to secure solid conditions for the peaceful coexistence of the South and the North, that is, establishment of peace in Korea. "

Minister Lee also met with Craig Thomas, chairman of the Senate sub-committee on East Asian and Pacific affairs and Henry Hyde, chairman of the House committee on international relations, to appeal for U.S. Congressional support for Seoul`s policy of reconciliation with North Korea. He proposed that President Kim meet with Congressional leaders when he visits Washington in March.

Boo Hyung-Kwon bookum90@donga.com