Brussels, 27/04/2001 (Agence Europe) - As already announced in EUROPE, Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson, President of the European Council, will be in Pyongyang then in Seoul from 2 to 4 May, at the head of a large Community delegation including High Representative for CFSP Javier Solana and European External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten. The aim of this political mission, which is also the very first visit by a western head of government to North Korea, is to express the Union's support of the peace and stabilisation process in the Korean Peninsula, initiated last year by Presidents Kim Dae-Jung and Kim Jong-II. It is also to confirm the possibility of strengthening relations with the People's Democratic Republic of Korea, subject to efforts made by its government to answer the concerns of the Union and the international community concerning human rights, non-proliferation, economic reform and access by populations to foreign aid. By showing it is realistic, the delegation hopes to leave Pyongyang with the knowledge that it has given fresh impetus to the peace process, and after receiving from President Kim a clear pledge that he will fully respect the commitments taken last June during the summit between the two Koreas. His pledge also covers confirmation of a freeze in ballistic weapons tests agreed with the United States, as well as positive signals on the issue of non-proliferation, on the supply of sensitive technologies mainly in South Asia and in the Middle East, on the particularly opaque situation regarding human rights, as well as conditions for foreign aid and clarification of Pyongyang's intention on the economic front.
A European mission is currently in place to carry out a feasibility study, which mainly bears on the market economy, the management of energy resources, health and transport. "We are still in an early stage", it was said in Brussels. The Union is already prepared to normalise its diplomatic relations with North Korea (Sweden was the only Member State to have kept up relations during the Cold War but, to date, its European partners have practically all restored links or are in the process of doing so, except France and Ireland). "The two leaders (Persson and Kim) are expected to reaffirm their respective positions aimed at promoting the establishment of diplomatic relations", it is said in Seoul. The Union also recently said that it had no objections of principle to closer relations with North Korea, as long as there were advances on the four main subjects of concern highlighted in the line of action adopted by the Council on 20 November, which are the inter-Korean reconciliation process, non-proliferation, human rights and structural economic reforms. On the first subject, European officials say they do not want to take the lead over the United States, which has a sustained military presence in South Korea and a marked traditionally strategic interest on the peninsula. "We have a certain number of difficulties with positions taken on the other side of the Atlantic since a few weeks, but certainly not on this subject. Our roles are complementary", sources in Brussels stressed, citing as proof the welcome the European initiative received on the part of the American authorities and the close collaboration with Washington during preparations for this visit. What's more, Swedish and Community envoys will go to Washington and Tokyo, simultaneously, on Monday, to brief the Union's great partners on the results of the mission. The Swedish Foreign Minister is, however, said to have declared, according to the Korean Times of 19 April, that it "is becoming clear that the new American Administration wants to harden the approach vis-à-vis North Korea", an that "Europe must make its entry to help reduce the tensions between the two Koreas".
The programme of Persson, Solana and Patten's visit is relatively succinct: an initial informal meeting will be held with President Kim Jong-II on 2 May (followed the next day by a formal session); a meeting with representatives of the UN and humanitarian NGOs working on the ground in extremely difficult conditions at delivering foreign aid to the population of North Korea is also scheduled. On 3 May, the European mission will move on to South Korea, where they will have an informal meeting with President Kim Dae-Jung.