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Dialogue Between North and South Korea Collapses North Korea’s Dialogue With the South Collapses
(about 7 hours later)
SEOUL, South Korea — An agreement between North and South Korea to hold high-level government talks this week collapsed in a last-minute dispute over who should lead their delegations, South Korean officials said Tuesday. SEOUL, South Korea — Just days after North and South Korea agreed to hold their first high-level government meeting in six years, the plans appear to have collapsed over a disagreement about whether the intended delegations were of similar rank.
South Korea said that the talks, planned for Wednesday, were canceled but that it was still open to dialogue with the North. The meeting in Seoul would have been the first senior inter-Korean dialogue in six years. South Korea said that the talks, scheduled to start on Wednesday, were canceled but that it was still open to dialogue with the North.
The agreement had been seen as a clear sign that the two Koreas were easing tensions and moving toward a thaw after years of recriminations, which hit a peak this year when the North’s third nuclear test prompted broad international sanctions. The North responded with threats that it would launch nuclear strikes against South Korea and the United States, its ally. The agreement to meet had been seen as a clear sign that the two Koreas were moving toward a thaw after years of recriminations. The tensions reached a peak this year when the North’s third nuclear test prompted broad international sanctions and the North responded with threats that it could launch nuclear strikes against South Korea and the United States.
But right up until the eve of the talks, North and South Korea were arguing over who should be their chief delegates to the meeting.But right up until the eve of the talks, North and South Korea were arguing over who should be their chief delegates to the meeting.
South Korea proposed sending the country’s unification minister, Ryoo Kihl-jae, as the top delegate and asked North Korea to send Kim Yang-gon, a Workers Party secretary in charge of relations with the South, as Mr. Ryoo’s counterpart. But the North balked, insisting that Mr. Kim was above a minister’s level in the North Korean hierarchy — a claim the South did not accept. South Korea proposed sending its unification minister, Ryoo Kihl-jae, as the top delegate and asked North Korea to send Kim Yang-gon, a Workers Party secretary in charge of relations with the South, as Mr. Ryoo’s counterpart. But the North balked, insisting that Mr. Kim was above a minister’s level — an assertion the South did not accept.
North Korea eventually appointed a party official lower in rank than Mr. Kim as its chief delegate, saying that he matched Mr. Ryoo in rank. Meanwhile, South Korea, believing that Mr. Ryoo outranked the new North Korean representative, told the North that it would send Mr. Ryoo’s deputy, a vice unification minister, as the chief delegate. North Korea eventually appointed a party official lower in rank than Mr. Kim as its chief delegate, but the South said it would then send a lower-level official than Mr. Ryoo.
North Korea then accused the South of a “grave provocation” and told the South that it would not send a delegation to Seoul, said Kim Hyung-suk, a South Korean government spokesman.North Korea then accused the South of a “grave provocation” and told the South that it would not send a delegation to Seoul, said Kim Hyung-suk, a South Korean government spokesman.
“We consider the North Korean decision very regrettable,” Mr. Kim said. “We urge North Korea to join us in government dialogue.” North Korea had not issued its own statement publicly by Wednesday morning. “We consider the North Korean decision very regrettable,” Mr. Kim said. The North had not yet responded as of early Wednesday morning.
The dispute between the two sides over what appeared to be a point of pride reflects a deeper standoff. It has always been difficult to determine which officials are equivalent in authority in the very different political systems of the two Koreas. But the inability to resolve the dispute reflected a deeper standoff, analysts said.
North Korea, which called the South a “puppet” of the Americans, had sent an officer who was lower in rank Kim Yang-gon to previous cabinet-minister-level talks with South Korea until they were suspended in 2007. The government of Park Geun-hye, the South Korean president, has insisted on “trust building” with the North, and said it was adamant that it would not tolerate what officials considered to be a diplomatic slight. The mutual mistrust between the two governments has deepened in recent years, as North Korea conducted nuclear tests and provoked South Korea militarily; the South then pulled back from its “sunshine policy” of working to engage the North. Consecutive conservative governments in Seoul complained that years of ample aid and investment had not persuaded Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear arms program.
In the talks, the Koreas were to discuss reversing the recent suspension of their joint operation of an industrial complex, and revising other economic and humanitarian projects that faltered a few years ago amid tensions over North Korean nuclear tests, international sanctions and threats of war. “The collapse of the government talks shows how rigid the South and North Korean authorities have become,” said Cheong Seong-chang, an analyst at the Sejong Institute in South Korea.
The government of President Park Geun-hye of South Korea has repeatedly vowed to break the “vicious cycle” of the North’s provocations — in which it has been rewarded with gestures of appeasement, including aid, by its adversaries. Such a firm stance has proved popular in South Korea, with Ms. Park’s approach being cited as one of her biggest strengths in public surveys. But critics this week expressed fear that by allowing the talks to collapse over what they view as a point of pride, Ms. Park was wasting an opportunity to ease tensions.
“If the South Korean government is really willing to resolve the standing issues with North Korea through dialogue, it could have shown some flexibility,” Mr. Cheong said.
The North proposed the talks shortly after its benefactors in China prodded its leader, Kim Jong-un, to take steps to diminish tensions on the peninsula. The North has also been suffering economically under intensified sanctions leveled because of its nuclear program, and its leaders might have hoped that re-engagement with the South would lead to renewed investment.
The Koreas were to discuss reversing the recent suspension of their joint operation of an industrial complex, and revising other economic and humanitarian projects that faltered a few years ago amid tensions over North Korean nuclear tests, international sanctions and threats of war.
The industrial park at Kaesong, a North Korean border town, was shuttered in April when North Korea pulled out all of its 53,000 workers and accused the United States and South Korea of raising military tensions. The factory park had been the last and best-known symbol of inter-Korean rapprochement efforts from 1998 to 2008.The industrial park at Kaesong, a North Korean border town, was shuttered in April when North Korea pulled out all of its 53,000 workers and accused the United States and South Korea of raising military tensions. The factory park had been the last and best-known symbol of inter-Korean rapprochement efforts from 1998 to 2008.
Most of the joint Korean projects started during that period were suspended in the last few years as relations deteriorated. Representatives of the two countries met on the border on Sunday to sort out the details of this week’s talks, but they left the dispute over the chief delegates unresolved.
Last week, North Korea made a surprise overture by proposing the government-to-government dialogue with the South. South Korea quickly accepted, and their delegates met on the border on Sunday to sort out the details.
Those talks ended with the agreement to hold a high-level meeting in Seoul this week, but left the dispute over the chief delegates unresolved.