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Koreas agree to hold summit

SINGAPORE: In a surprise move, the two Koreas on Wednesday announced their intention to hold a bilateral summit in Pyongyang on August 28-30. The timing of the decision, at a sensitive stage in the six-party process related to the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, has sparked both hope and caution in the region.

The summit, only the second such event since June 2000, will also take place in Pyongyang.

The parleys would “provide momentum to settle the North Korean nuclear problem,” it was officially stated in Seoul.

The meeting between South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il “is expected to contribute to peace and prosperity on the Korean peninsula.”

South Korea indicated that the agenda would include inter-Korean peace and economic cooperation as also arms control besides denuclearisation.

The state news agency of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, or the North) said the summit “will be of weighty significance in opening a new phase of peace on the Korean peninsula, co-prosperity … and national reunification.”

In the absence of immediate official reactions from all the other participants in the six-party process – the U.S., China as the host, Russia, and Japan – informal opinion in the regional circles centred on the DPRK’s possible game-plans. The DPRK has often insisted on reaching a political understanding with the U.S. before settling any issue at the six-party talks. However, Pyongyang’s latest move is seen by some diplomatic observers as a step towards reaching a pre-settlement understanding with a key U.S. ally as well.

A note of caution is that the dialogue should not detract from the six-party process.

Reuters reports:

Energy-starved North Korea appealed on Wednesday for regional powers to provide it with 50,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil a month.

Last month, North Korea received 50,000 tonnes of fuel oil after it shut its nuclear reactor and source of weapons-grade plutonium as part of the six-way deal reached in February.

The provision of 50,000 tonnes a month was not spelled out in the agreement.

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