For the first time in over a year North and South Korea, still technically at war, met in Beijing for talks yesterday. The ministerial-level meeting lasted only 90 minutes, and the two sides did little more than exchange positions, but the fact that it took place after a clash between naval vessels from both sides in the Yellow Sea last week constitutes a breakthrough.
South Korea's Vice-Minister for Reunification, Mr Yang Yongshik, head of the Seoul delegation, said afterwards that the two sides would arrange by telephone for a second round of talks, possibly today.
"In the meeting today, the two sides exchanged basic positions and exchanged opinions on the issues of separated families, the implementation of the basic agreement and the incident in the West [Yellow] Sea," he said.
The delegation from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) left the meeting in the Kempinski Hotel without comment. North Korea held up the start of the talks for 24 hours in protest at Seoul's failure to deliver the final part of a shipment of 100,000 tonnes of fertiliser it had promised the famine-stricken North.
A South Korean spokesman said rain had delayed the shipment, which arrived at the North Korean port of Nampo early yesterday. "After three days of straight rain, we have a sunny day today," a North Korean delegate, Mr Park Young-soo, remarked after the two sides met in a welter of smiles and handshakes. "Rain is a blessing. I hope it brings fruitful talks," Mr Yang replied.
Last week South Korea said its navy had sunk a North Korean gunboat in clashes when North Korean fishing vessels allegedly entered South Korean waters. The agenda for the talks includes the reunion of tens of thousands of families split by the 1950-53 Korean war.
Mr Yang said he made specific proposals for "finding out the fate" of families and making contact with survivors. The talks are also expected to focus on food aid for the North. Bilateral talks were broken off in April 1998 after Seoul linked aid to North Korea with family reunions.
Meanwhile, North Korea accused South Korea of being party to a plot to undermine an eight-month visitors' programme and asked for an apology. This followed the arrest of a South Korean tourist, Ms Min Youngmi, a 36-year-old housewife, for "tempting" North Koreans to defect.