Government Discussing Countermeasures for Six-Party Talks

The government held a high-ranking strategic meeting presided over by Chung Dong-young, the standing chairman of the National Security Council (NSC) and Minister of Unification, at the office of South-North dialogue in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of July 11 in a bid to discuss its countermeasures for the fourth round of six-party talks slated for late July.

During this meeting, the matter of putting heads together with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is scheduled to pay a visit to South Korea on July 12, over strategies between South Korea and the U.S. for the resumed six-party talks and measures to take the lead in hammering out the gap between the viewpoints of Washington and Pyongyang during the six-party talks were intensively discussed.

This conference was attended by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ban Ki-moon, Minister of National Defense Yoon Kwang-ung, Senior Advisor to the President for National Security Kwon Chin-ho, Advisor to the President for Foreign Policy Chung Woo-sung, Deputy Chief of the NSC Lee Jong-seok, and Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Song Min-soon.

President Roh Moo-hyun is scheduled to convene a NSC meeting on the afternoon of July 12 in a bid to generally discuss countermeasures over the resumed six-party talks and the matter of promoting inter-Korean relations in the second half of this year. The NSC is chaired by the President and is the highest-class council for foreign and security affairs. This NSC meeting will be the fourth meeting since President Roh took office and the third meeting presided over by President Roh.

Meanwhile, a high-ranking U.S. Department of State official accompanying U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on an Asian tour revealed that if North Korea takes part in the fourth round of six-party talks in a constructive manner, the U.S. would be willing to let up its hawkish stance over proposals to resolve the impasse over the North’s nuclear program issue.

However, another U.S. official said that if the resumed six-party talks fail to reach an agreement, the U.S. might definitely take other actions.

Jong-Koo Yoon Soon-Taek Kwon jkmas@donga.com maypole@donga.com