SEOUL, Oct 4: The North and South Korean leaders called on Thursday for a nuclear-free peninsula and a permanent peace pact to end the world’s last Cold War divide as they wrapped up a rare summit.
The historic foes agreed to step up trade, travel and political exchanges, including starting a freight train between the impoverished communist North and prosperous South, and flights for the growing number of South Korean tourists.
North Korea’s reclusive leader Kim Jong-il, dressed in his trademark khaki jumpsuit, smiled, shook hands and clinked champagne glasses with President Roh Moo-hyun, only the second South Korean leader ever to visit Pyongyang.
The two leaders, closing the three-day summit, signed an agreement pledging to work for a permanent peace between the two Koreas, which remain technically at war after their 1950-53 conflict halted with only an armistice.
“The South and North will not take a hostile stance towards each other and will reduce military tension and resolve issues of conflict through dialogue and negotiation,” the joint declaration said.
It called for a summit by leaders of “three or four countries” to declare a formal end to the Korean War.
The United States and China also fought in the war on opposite sides, meaning their signatures are necessary to finish it.
The White House said that a peace treaty formally ending the Korean war and the normalisation of US-North Korean ties would depend on Kim’s regime abiding by the agreement to dismantle its nuclear weapons programme.
North Korea watchers, meanwhile, voiced some surprise at the breadth of the agreement as expectations had been low. Roh, a diehard advocate of reconciling with the North, leaves office in only four months.
“The summit produced better results than many earlier predicted, especially in economic cooperation and peace,” said Kim Yeon-Chul, a professor at Korea University’s Asiatic Research Centre.
Kim Jong-il and Roh agreed in the declaration to try to ensure that existing agreements on shutting down the North’s nuclear programme are implemented smoothly.
The statement means Kim Jong-il has personally signed up to denuclearisation efforts almost a year after his regime tested an atomic weapon.
In a six-nation agreement made public late on Wednesday, the North agreed to declare all its nuclear programmes and disable its main atomic reactor by the end of the year under US supervision.—AFP
SEOUL, Oct 4: The North and South Korean leaders called on Thursday for a nuclear-free peninsula and a permanent peace pact to end the world’s last Cold War divide as they wrapped up a rare summit.
