North Korea on Tuesday agreed to talks between the Red Cross agencies of the two sides to discuss a resumption of reunions of families separated by the Korean War. Through an inter-Korean hotline at the truce village of Panmunjom, the North agreed to the Souths suggestion to hold the talks at Mt. Kumgang on Aug. 26-28, a year and nine months after the last Red Cross contacts. The reunions are to start up again on Chuseok or Korean Thanksgiving, which falls on Oct. 3. North Korea reconnected the Panmunjom hotline to agree the talks, which it had cut off last November over the South Korean government's support for a UN resolution on North Korean human rights. The east coast route to Mt. Kumgang was also reopened that day.
North Korea has launched a charm offensive, lifting border restrictions, offering to restart business projects and resuming dialogue with the South. But it has made no progress in dismantling its nuclear program, the main bone of contention between the two Koreas.
After a series of missile tests and other saber-rattling, the North is suddenly all smiles, starting with the visit to Pyongyang by former U.S. president Bill Clinton, when it agreed to free two U.S. journalists detained at the border with China.
Since then, developments have come thick and fast. A Hyundai Asan staffer who had been held incommunicado in North Korea for 136 days was freed on Aug. 13, and leader Kim Jong-il met with Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun, agreeing to resume tourism programs, put the Kaesong Industrial Complex back on track and lift travel restrictions. A North Korean delegation attended the funeral of former president Kim Dae-jung and met with President Lee Myung-bak on Sunday.
The Choson Sinbo, a mouthpiece for Pyongyang published in Japan, said Monday, "The situation surrounding the Korean Peninsula is changing remarkably." It added the delegation's visit to Cheong Wa Dae had provided the momentum for "irreversible change" to begin.
But on the nuclear issue, North Korea's position is the same as it was when no. 2 leader Kim Yong-nam on July 15 declared the six-party talks "are over for good." A security official said, "North Korea seems willing to do anything except on the nuclear issue, so (relations) can return to confrontation anytime unless there is a change in this fundamental issue."
Prof. Lee Jo-won of ChungAng University warned that by behaving as though it is determined to behave reasonable, North Korea "is giving us the wrong impression that it may have changed."
Experts urged the government to stick to principles. Suh Jae-jean, the president of the Korea Institute for National Unification, said, "The government should maintain principles based on Seoul-Washington cooperation until North Korea makes a strategic decision on the nuclear issue."