North's demands slow Korean peace talks

SEOUL, South Korea -- South and North Korea have discussed reviving a host of stalled projects aimed at promoting peace on their divided peninsula.

While some joint projects were agreed to during Sunday's talks, demands by North Korea for further economic concessions have ensured any progress is slow.

Negotiators from the two sides announced proposals including more reunions of separated family members, reconnection of a cross-border railway and the construction of a North Korean industrial park for businesses from the South.

Details have yet to be worked out, and the huge array of troops and weapons on both sides of the border between the two Koreas is a reminder the peace process remains fragile and prone to delays.

North and South Korea headed into their second and final round of resumed talks on Monday with Pyongyang adding demands for electricity from Seoul to the list of reconciliation projects agreed last year.

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The North's chief delegate, Kim Ryong Song, also proposed the repatriation of a handful of former pro-communist prisoners who are barred from leaving South Korea.

Both topics are sensitive in South Korea, where the political opposition has accused President Kim Dae-jung of making too many concessions to the North.

Originally scheduled for March, the Cabinet-level negotiations in Seoul were suspended because of tension between North Korea and the United States, South Korea's chief ally.

North Korea has frustrated the South by failing to follow through on pledges made in the historic June 15, 2000, summit declaration, including Kim Jong-il's promise to visit Seoul to reciprocate Kim Dae-jung's ice-breaking trip to Pyongyang

One way traffic

The South's chief negotiator, Unification Minister Hong Soon-young, proposed that inter-Korean Red Cross talks be held as soon as possible to help reunite families separated for five decades, reported The Associated Press news agency.

Three such temporary reunions were held in the past year.

South Korea urged North Korea to honor earlier agreements to open sections of the Demilitarized Zone to reconnect a railway cut shortly before the Korean War.

South Korea has nearly completed work on the railway on its side of the border, but North Korea has done little on its end.

Seoul also called on Pyongyang to build a road for South Korean tourists to visit a scenic mountain on the North's east coast and urged speedy implementation of an agreement to build an industrial park in the North's border city of Kaesong for garment, footwear and other labor-intensive South Korean businesses.

"Our side called for an early implementation of agreements or projects already agreed on, rather than making new proposals," said Lee Bong-jo, a spokesman for the South Korean government.

"The North side favored the South side's proposals and responded to the discussion on them to meet the common interests of the nation," the North's KCNA news agency reported.

Anti-terrorism declaration

KCNA quoted North Korea's chief envoy, Kim Ryong Song, as saying "fresh energy should be injected" into reconciliation efforts. He also said "foreign forces and conservative elements" had been responsible for the suspension of contacts.

Kim was referring to the United States, which keeps 37,000 troops in South Korea, and the South Korean political opposition, which has criticized President Kim's engagement policy toward the North as too lenient.

The talks did not address a possible visit by North Korean leader Kim Jong Il to Seoul. Kim promised to visit during talks with Kim Dae-jung at an unprecedented summit in Pyongyang, North Korea's capital, last year.

The delegates planned to hold more talks on Monday.

The South has been keen for the North to sign up to a joint anti-terrorism declaration following last Tuesday's attacks on Washington and New York. But it is far from clear whether any such declaration will be issued.