More European states warm to N.Korea

In from the cold: North Korea's leader Kim Jong Il

SEOUL, South Korea -- Spain says it is to follow Britain and Germany's decision to open diplomatic relations with North Korea.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, speaking on Friday at the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Seoul, said: "(European Union) countries will take the decisions that they consider to be the most convenient and opportune according to their evaluation of the process.

"We think that in the current circumstances, establishing diplomatic relations (with N. Korea) is a positive contribution to the normalisation of the situation."

A government source said Aznar had made the decision after talks with South Korean President Kim Dae-jung.

Aznar had been influenced by Kim, who was favourable to the idea of Spain opening diplomatic ties with Pyongyang, the source added.

Spain is following in the footsteps of two other European Union members, Britain and Germany, which announced on Thursday that they planned to open diplomatic ties with North Korea.

In a separate move, the Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel is expected to recommend that Belgium also move to open diplomatic relations with North Korea.

The piecemeal moves to open diplomatic ties with North Korea have exposed divisions within the 15-nation EU.

Britain and Germany took their decisions without awaiting a common EU stance, pre-empting current EU president France.

European Union countries that already have diplomatic relations with North Korea are Austria, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Portugal and Sweden.

An EU spokesman told CNN.com: "The EU does not have collective relations with North Korea and it has been the policy up to now, and likely to remain, that it's up to member states. It is a bi-lateral issue."

British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said the UK, which has never held formal relations with the country, had received "an approach" from North Korea last month and that it would "respond positively" to it.

Cook said: "The president of South Korea is very keen that other countries help to engage North Korea by bringing it in from the cold.

"The more countries that have relations with North Korea and promote dialogue with it, the better chance we have of achieving momentum on the developing peace relations between North and South Korea."

Relations between the West and the secretive, isolationist North Korea have been thawing since June when South Korean President Kim Dae-jung -- who received the Nobel Peace Prize last week -- held a historic summit meeting with his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Il.

During the ASEM summit, the 15 EU leaders are expected to endorse the efforts of Kim Dae-jung to improve relations between his democratic country and the communist North, and to work toward their eventual reunification.

In a further move, the EU is expected to provide $17 million for North Korean farmers to help ease the state's chronic food shortage.

Amnesty International, which launched its global "Stamp Out Torture" campaign on Wednesday, said: "This is a major opportunity…to press the North Korean authorities for more openness on the human rights situation and for access for human rights agencies.

"The current secrecy surrounding human rights and continuing denial of access for international human rights monitors are of grave concern to Amnesty International.

Albright visits Pyongyang this weekend

"North Korea is often called the world's most secretive state. Accurate information is currently difficult to obtain, but Amnesty International is concerned that many North Koreans are at risk of severe human rights violations including imprisonment, torture and ill-treatment in prison camps or even the death penalty under the North Korean Criminal Code."

At the weekend U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will travel to North Korea for a meeting with Kim Jong Il.

Her two-day visit to Pyongyang, which starts on Sunday, will be followed immediately by a meeting in Seoul with South Korean and Japanese officials.

Albright has said she would be "probing to see whether the openings for which Kim Dae-jung got the much-deserved Nobel prize allows for us to look at a different set of relationships with North Korea -- but based on our own national interests."

Albright's visit could set the stage for one by U.S. President Bill Clinton, possibly in November when he is due to visit Vietnam.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Britain to begin relations with N. Korea
October 19, 2000
High ranking N. Korean official to visit Washington
September 28, 2000
U.S. delegation heading to Moscow for talks on North Korea
August 24, 2000

European Union
Presidency of the EU
Spanish Government
UK Government
Belgian Government
U.S. State Department
Korea Government

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