CHEJU An emissary for North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Il arrived on Wednesday for talks expected to focus on plans for kim to make his first visit to the south and on developing economic ties.
North and South Korean officials have held a series of meetings since an historic summit held between their leaders in Pyongyang in June.
"The weather is beautiful today. It's a good sign for the talks," North Korean senior cabinet counselor Jon Kum-Jin told reporters as he arrived on the resort island of Cheju. "I came here with a wish to produce good results this time." Jon, a close aide to North Korea's communist leader, is a veteran of past bilateral negotiations that produced scant tangible results, but the mood since June has changed.
The two Koreas, though still technically at war, have held family reunions, pledged wider economic cooperation, and even started work on a railroad across their heavily armed border.
"In the three months since the June summit, we have shown the world there's nothing we cannot do if we put our hearts into it," Jon's 22-member delegation said in an arrival statement.
Jon is to open two-day talks on Thursday with South Korea's top representative on North Korean Affairs, Unification Minister Park Jae-Kyu.
The South's Park said he expects economic issues to top the agenda.
"The most tangible results in seeking improved inter-Korean ties will come from economic cooperation," Park told reporters.
Working-level talks earlier this week produced an agreement in principle on investment guarantees and double-taxation avoidance, considered hurdles to South Korean conglomerates such as the Hyundai Group that want to invest there.
Food Aid Not on Agenda Park said the issue of food aid for the impoverished North, which relies on international charity to help feed its people, will not be discussed.
Asked by reporters about news reports that Seoul has already sought suppliers to provide the north with corn and rice, Park said: "The government has not yet secured food for North Korea." It is their third meeting since June and setting a date for a visit by North Korea's leader is among the matters still to be resolved.
The North Korean leader promised South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung that he would visit South Korea at some point for a follow-up to their June summit, where the two leaders pledged joint efforts to end 50 years of confrontation.
"Let us try to faithfully carry out what North and South Korea promised," the North Korean delegation's statement said.
The talks follow this week's unprecedented meeting between defence chiefs from the two sides.
North Korea's delegation kept those talks focused on a joint rail and road project to span their closed border while skirting topics such as Seoul's call for prior notice of large troop movements or allowing observers at exercises.
The meeting concluded with a pledge to work jointly for a "lasting and durable peace".
(Reuter)