DATE=6/7/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=NORTH-SOUTH KOREA - U-S
NUMBER=5-46452
BYLINE=STEPHANIE MANN
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Asia specialists in the United States say
Washington is pleased the leaders of North and South
Korea will finally meet face to face (June 12-14) to
begin working out their differences. But as
correspondent Stephanie Mann reports, the analysts
also say U-S optimism is tempered by some skepticism.
TEXT: In the early 1950's, the United States led the
U-N forces that defended South Korea against the
Russian and Chinese-backed North Korean troops during
the Korean War. And for the rest of the 20th century,
the United States has been a firm ally of South Korea,
deploying tens of thousands of U-S soldiers on the
peninsula to protect the South against a possible
attack from the North.
North Korea has always referred to the South as a
puppet of the United States and has repeatedly sought
to deal directly with Washington, instead of
negotiating with Seoul. That began to change in the
late 1980's and early 1990's, when North and South
Korea held various rounds of talks and eventually
reached an agreement on non-aggression and family
exchange.
However, suspicions about the extent of North Korea's
nuclear weapons program hindered the North-South
dialogue. In 1993, the United States engaged the
North directly in talks to deal with the nuclear
threat.
The United States and North Korea reached an agreement
in 1994 aimed at halting the North's nuclear weapons
program and helping the country develop a less-
controversial nuclear energy system.
Although the potential for a nuclear threat from the
North persists, Asia specialist Gordon Flake says the
issue has subsided -- allowing tensions to be eased
somewhat.
Mr. Flake, the executive director of the Washington-
based Mansfield Center for Pacific Affairs, says the
United States, therefore, is generally supportive of
the North-South summit. He says the meeting between
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il and the South's
president, Kim Dae-Jung, is welcomed by many in
Washington, but also will be watched with some
ambivalence. Mr. Flake describes what he says are two
schools of thought.
/// FLAKE ACT ///
There's one group that is worried that Kim Dae-
Jung might go forward and not address core
issues of interest to the United States -- the
nuclear issue, the missile issue, weapons of
mass destruction. And then there's another
school that thinks perhaps exactly the opposite:
people who agree on the importance of these
issues but are somewhat skeptical of having a
South Korean president take the lead on these
initiatives that have been, at least heretofore,
under the purview of the United States.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Flake says Kim Dae-Jung has assured the United
States he will raise the security concerns, but the
analyst says he does not expect any negotiations on
those issues in this first summit.
In addition to the nuclear-weapons issue, the United
States and North Korea have held talks on creating
reciprocal liaison offices and accounting for soldiers
missing from the Korean War. There have also been
four-way talks including the two Koreas, the United
States and China.
A former senior U-S Defense Department official, Kurt
Campbell, says it is natural for American officials to
feel gratified that the summit is occurring and may
lead to progress in the North-South dialogue. But he
also says there is a sense of disappointment that
South Korea has made headway while U-S and Japanese
initiatives toward improving relations with Pyongyang
so far have not been successful.
/// CAMPBELL ACT ONE ///
There is natural subtle competition among the
United States, Japan and South Korea, to see who
is going to succeed in their engagement
strategies. Now, we've been working over the
last several months to try to arrange for a
visit of a (North Korean) vice minister to
Washington D.C. And that's taken up a
tremendous amount of time of the very able
foreign policy specialists at the State
Department. Well, with one fell swoop, right,
this summit leaves a lot of other initiatives
looking pretty tepid in comparison.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Campbell is now a specialist on Asian security
issues at the Center for Strategic and International
Studies in Washington. He says it's important for the
U-S government to remember that the peninsula belongs
to Korea and it's up to the Koreans to work out their
differences. But Mr. Campbell adds that U-S interests
should also be considered.
/// CAMPBELL ACT TWO ///
This is not our peninsula, but we do have
significant security and political interests,
both in proliferation and the maintenance of
peace and stability. And so, we want to make
sure that any issues discussed are discussed in
a way that underscores the importance of our
alliance, that is based on the necessity of
consultation and close coordination.
/// END ACT ///
South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung is scheduled to
hold talks in Pyongyang with North Korean leader Kim
Jong-Il June 12th to 14th. In advance of that meeting,
South Korean officials have consulted with officials
in Washington and Tokyo, and North Korea has held top
level talks with leaders in Beijing. (Signed)
NEB/SMN/ENE/KL
07-Jun-2000 16:30 PM EDT (07-Jun-2000 2030 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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