A high ranking European Union delegation headed by Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson visited North Korea on Wednesday May 2. Prime Minister Persson was the highest ranking European official ever to visit North Korea. Sweden currently holds the EU's six-month rotating presidency. Persson was accompanied by EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana and External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten.

The main aim of Persson's visit was to give momentum to the peace negotiations on the Korean Peninsula, which began with South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung's historic visit to North Korea in mid-June last year. Persson and his delegation held fruitful talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il and Deputy Foreign Minister Kang Sok-Ju. The North Korean leader was scheduled to pay a visit to Seoul but it was cancelled after the Republicans came to power in the U.S. and announced that they would review U.S. policy toward North Korea.

The division of the peninsula is a remnant of the Cold War. The U.S. still has 37,000 troops stationed in South Korea, nearly 50 years since the end of the Korean War.

Persson told a news conference in Seoul that the North Korean leader has vowed to visit South Korea at the appropriate time. Persson's visit to Pyongyang, which is reminiscent of the style of former Swedish prime minister Olaf Palme, once again brought the prospect of peace to the Korean peninsula.

A comparison between the positions of the Swedish prime minister and U.S. President George W. Bush in regard to the Korean Peninsula poses a question: Why is the U.S. administration seeking to create a tense situation in the region after all the efforts of the North and South Korean officials? The answer is quite simple. The U.S. administration wants to go ahead with its national missile defense (NMD) system, and in this way intends to justify its controversial plan.

Even at the press conference with the EU delegation in Seoul, South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung expressed his dismay at Washington's policy toward the Korean Peninsula and said he hoped that the U.S. policy review would be concluded very soon so that U.S.-North Korea dialogue could resume. Former U.S. secretary of state Madeline Albright visited North Korea at the end of the Clinton presidency.

However, speeding up the negotiations between North and South Korea and smoothing the reunion of separated families and the eventual reunification of the two countries is a highly praiseworthy act which was first championed by Kim Dae-Jung and then encouraged by Persson of Sweden and his delegation.

As most of the EU countries have established diplomatic ties with Pyongyang, the peace-loving people expect the EU to play a greater role in its efforts for the establishment of peace and calm on the Korean peninsula.