South/North Korea

Seoul offers resumption of talks with Pyongyang

Article published on the 2008-07-11 Latest update 2008-07-11 10:01 TU

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak
(Photo : Reuters)

South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak has offered to resume direct talks with North Korea, in a major policy shift. Lee told parliament he was willing to carry out previous bilateral summit accords with Pyongyang and provide the impoverished North with food aid. The move came a day after six-party talks on the North's nuclear programme resumed after being delayed for months.

The proposal signals a U-turn from his previous hardline stance against the communist regime.

"Full dialogue between the two Koreas must resume," he told parliament.

"The South Korean government is willing to engage in serious consultations on how to implement the summit deals and other previous agreements between the two sides."

The president also offered to boost cross-border humanitarian aid and urged the North to resolve points of dispute such as resuming reunions of families separated between the Koreas. Lee also pushed for the return of hundreds of South Korean prisoners of war and civilians believed to be held in the North.

The speech coincided with reports from a tourism company that said a North Korean soldier had fatally shot a South Korean visitor to a mountain resort in the North. The soldier opened fire after the woman crossed into a restricted area at a beach, tour operator Hyundai Asan said.

The summit agreements, signed in 2000 and last year, call for peace between the two countries and large economic co-operation projects with the North.

The two countries have technically remained at war since the fighting in the Korean War ended in 1953 without a formal peace treaty being signed.