South Korea may expand projects with North Korea

[October 13, 2008]  SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- South Korea is considering expanding cross-border projects with North Korea following major progress in an international standoff over the communist country's nuclear program, an official said Monday.

On Saturday, the United States removed North Korea from its terrorism blacklist, saying Pyongyang agreed to all Washington's nuclear inspection demands. The North welcomed the delisting, saying it would resume disabling its main nuclear facilities and allow international inspections there.

Meanwhile, conservative protesters took to the streets in Seoul to denounce the delisting.

Kim Ho-nyeon, a spokesman at South Korea's Unification Ministry, told reporters Monday that South Korea is considering "adjusting" various projects with its neighbor, such as its food aid to the impoverished North.

He did not elaborate but his office later explained that South Korea has long sought to expand inter-Korean economic projects and humanitarian aid to the North in tandem with progress in the nuclear issue.

"I hope the terrorism delisting will have a positive effect on improvement of inter-Korean ties," Kim said.

North Korea halted its nuclear disablement in mid-August in anger over Washington's failure to remove the regime from the terror list and began moves toward restarting its plutonium-producing facility. The U.S. had said North Korea first had to allow verification of the declaration of its nuclear programs it submitted in June.

The weekend's developments raised hopes that the stalled nuclear talks could quickly resume and help improve ties between the U.S. and North Korea, Cold War adversaries still technically at war.

About 70 activists called on the U.S. to withdraw its delisting decision in a rally Monday near the American Embassy in Seoul.

Chanting "We oppose the terror delisting," the activists tried to burn signs with photos of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, triggering a minor scuffle with police.

"We cannot help being disappointed after seeing the U.S. delisting North Korea, as we had believed it would do so after the North completes its nuclear dismantling," said Park Chan-sung, a protest leader.

It was not known Monday whether the North had restarted its disablement work as pledged. The North's state media carried typical propaganda articles praising the Kim Jong Il regime. South Korea's Foreign Ministry also said it has not detected any such signs.

Relations between the divided Koreas have worsened since a conservative, pro-U.S. government was inaugurated in Seoul in February with a pledge to get tougher on the North. Pyongyang has cut off government-level contacts with the South in retaliation.

Inter-Korean ties deteriorated further in July after a North Korean army guard fatally shot a South Korean housewife who allegedly wandered into a restricted military area at the North's scenic Diamond Mountain resort. In response, the South suspended tours to the mountain -- a prominent symbol of rapprochement efforts on the divided peninsula.

A joint inter-Korean industrial park in the North Korean border city of Kaesong and tours there have been kept intact despite the shooting case.

The latest development is expected to prompt the U.S., the two Koreas, China, Russia and Japan to reconvene their stalled talks aimed at persuading Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear programs in return for energy aid and other benefits.

Moon Tae-young, a spokesman at South Korea's Foreign Ministry, told reporters Monday that the timing was likely be determined in consideration of events such as the Oct. 24-25 Asia-Europe Meeting in China and the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 4.

[Associated Press; By HYUNG-JIN KIM]

APTN cameraman Yong-ho Kim in Seoul contributed to this report.

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