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President Roh Moo-hyun gestures during an interview with AP CEO Tom Curley at Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday./AP
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President Roh Moo-hyun has hinted that another inter-Korean summit is possible before his term ends if North Korea starts to abandon its nuclear program, according to the AP news agency. Roh made the remarks in an interview with AP CEO Tom Curley at Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday afternoon.
Regarding when such a summit should be held, Roh said, ¡°Regardless of my term, I believe a good time would be when the six-party talks are well on (their) way to implementation and when we can be sure that a summit will contribute to cementing this progress.¡±
Presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-seon commented the report was AP¡¯s interpretation of the president¡¯s remarks. According to Cheong Wa Dae, Roh meant that an inter-Korean summit would be appropriate, regardless of his term in office, because it is necessary to consolidate the results of the six-nation nuclear talks and further develop the denuclearization dialogue framework.
Roh also said Seoul cannot artificially advance the timing for a second inter-Korean summit nor delay it when the time is right. This does suggest the government is willing to promote another inter-Korean summit within Roh¡¯s term if the conditions are met because it could help coax North Korea into scrapping its nuclear program and establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula. The ruling Uri Party has been urging the government to hold an inter-Korean summit before Aug. 15.
Cheon also said the president¡¯s remarks reflect the government¡¯s view that an inter-Korean summit is not helpful at this stage of the six-way talks, but that another summit at an appropriate time would facilitate the six-party dialogue.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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