Two Korea talks are frozen solid

By Sohn Jie-Ae
CNN Korea Bureau Chief

SEOUL, Korea -- South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung's meeting with his cabinet ministers Friday was not a happy one.

He told them that while South-North Korean relations seem to be at a standstill, cooperation between the two Koreas should continue.

He also said the two sides should continue to work towards a return trip to Seoul by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, whenever it may be.

It's a substantial step back from just a few weeks ago, when the Seoul government was talking about the North Korean leader coming to Seoul in the first half of this year.

But analysts say it is just a case of reality kicking in.

Since the new administration in Washington started a review of its North Korea policies, inter-Korean relations, which had made substantial strides since the summit between the two leaders in Pyongyang last June, have almost ceased entirely.

"North Korea, for the time being, is reluctant to come and talk with South Korea," says Paik Jin-Hyun, a professor at Seoul National University.

"And of course they have been stepping up the rhetoric offence towards the United States."

Ministerial meetings between the two Koreas, which were to work towards laying the foundations for reconciliation, and Kim Jong-Il's visit to Seoul, have been cancelled.

And Pyongyang has ignored Seoul's calls for other talks including military and Red Cross.

Reunions between families

The military cooperation is needed to rebuild a highway and railway link through the heavily fortified border between the two Koreas.

Further Red Cross talks were supposed to lead to more reunions between families divided by the Korean War.

Even Seoul's recent promise to provide further fertilizer aid to the North was seen as a futile attempt at breaking the impasse, and criticized as again "giving something for nothing in return," by opposition politicians.

Many in South Korea, including President Kim, believe the future of inter-Korean relations hinges on Washington's relations with North Korea.

But that does not look too promising.

Washington officials, from President George W. Bush on down, have repeatedly said they are not sure they can trust the North.

The North, for its part, has moved back into a defensive mode, attacking Washington for escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula.

Missile tests

It has also voiced thinly veiled threats to renew missile tests and even start up nuclear activities, which have been frozen with an agreement signed with Washington a decade ago.

They are all moves that analysts see as typical of North Korea. "I think this is sort of begging the U.S. to come forward and talk to them as the Clinton administration had done," says Paik.

All this is bad for President Kim, whose government is facing increasingly large hurdles in its North Korean policies.

"Here many people believe engagement has pretty much meant a one-way street," says Paik. "So they would like to see if North Korea would reciprocate more than before."

So facing challenges both from Washington and at home, Kim is also fighting against the clock.

With only two years left in his single-term presidency, many believe President Kim is running out of time to jump start the stalled relations with North Korea.

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