[imText1]“Only after improving inter-Korean relations will the Six-Party Talks be resumed,” according to Hyun In Taek, South Korea’s Minister of Unification.
Minister Hyun revealed the administration’s stance during his opening remarks at a symposium on Korea and Japan held by the Institute for Far Eastern Studies, the Korea Peace Institute and Seigakuin University General Research Institute today.
“North Korea is proposing to set aside the Cheonan incident and carry on with the Six-Party Talks. But inter-Korean relations are the main pillar of the Six-Party Talks. Without improved inter-Korean relations, there will not any progress in the Six-Party Talks,” he said.
On the other hand, Hyun expressed strongly the position that once North Korea’s apology for the Cheonan incident is clear, the Six-Party Talks will be feasible, while regarding aid, he said that the administration will continue to offer humanitarian aid to North Korea.
“We made the decision to send aid, and in the future we will continue to solve humanitarian matters not from a political standpoint but from a humanitarian one. North Korea should also look at the regularization of separated family reunions from the humanitarian aspect.”
“Normal, sound inter-Korean relations are all up to North Korea,” he concluded.
