Koreas send mixed messages

SEOUL, South Korea -- As South Korea promised to push for another summit to repair ties with North Korea in the New Year, Pyongyang renewed demands that have long hindered reconciliation talks.

In his New Year's message for his final year in office, South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung said the Seoul would continue with its policy of seeking reunification with the North.

"On the foundation of a strong national security, we must work to strengthen the process for peace on the Korean peninsula by unshakably promoting reconciliation and cooperation between the South and North," he said

For its part, North Korea called for a "radical phase" in the reunification of the two Koreas in the New Year.

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However, it also revived old accusations that South Korea has consistently resisted, and hampered efforts to improve inter-Korean ties.

The North demanded the United States withdraw its 37,000 troops stationed in South Korea, and Seoul abolish its National Security Law, which is crafted to fight communism.

"The imperialist (U.S.) warmongers must ... abandon their attempts at isolating and stifling the DPRK and withdraw the aggression forces from South Korea immediately," North Korea's official news agency, KCNA reported.

Pyongyang also vowed it would boost military vigilance and strength to ward off threats from the United States, and criticized Seoul's security link with the U.S. as "sycophancy and dependence on outside forces."

"If the U.S. imperialists and their allies dare to attack the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, they will be annihilated to the last one and any stronghold of the aggressors will not be safe,"

Policy priority

Unification Minister Hong Soon-young said that South Korea's policy priority for the New Year was to fulfil the promised visit of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to Seoul.

Hong said that peaceful co-existence between North and South was "more important than ever" this year because South Korea will host the soccer World Cup and the Asian Games, and hold two key elections.

However, Hong acknowledged, "at this stage, I can neither affirm nor predict" that Kim would visit South Korea.

Inter-Korean relations had improved significantly after the 2000 summit, where Communist ruler Kim pledged to visit the capitalist South to reciprocate South Korean President Kim Dae-jung's historic trip to North Korea in June 2000.

However, cabinet-level talks broke down and ties eventually deteriorated in an apparent North Korea protest at the policies of U.S. President George W. Bush.

Bush highlighted North Korea's huge forward deployment of conventional armed forces and questioned Pyongyang's willingness to comply with missile and nuclear agreements.

In return, North Korea canceled a set of agreed meetings, and took offence at South Korean security measures put in place after the September 11 suicide attacks on the United States.

Relations between North and South Korea, which fought a bitter war in 1950-53 and remain technically in a state of war without a formal peace treaty. Washington has since maintained a military presence in the South to deter North Korea.