Brussels, 07/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - The visit to Pyongyang by the European Troika, lead by the Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson, was welcomed with "gratitude and compliments" by the South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung, when it arrived in Seoul, on the eve of the weekend. Thanks to the European leaders and the support from the world community, peace, reconciliation and cooperation within the Korean peninsula becomes conscious of the irresistible flow of history, he stated when welcoming my Persson, as well as the European Commissioner Chris Patten and the High Representative for CFSP, Javier Solana.
President Kim welcomed the "very significant" visit by European leaders, saying that he was convinced that it would push forward the movement towards long-lasting peace in the peninsula". We think that our visit fulfilled its objective (…) We have left (Pyongyang) with the impression that our North Korean counterpart is firmly engaged in implementing last year's declaration and "we have concluded an arrangement over a certain number of issues of common interest, answered Mr Persson when referring to the promises obtained from Kim Jung Il (EUROPE of 4 May, p.9), all three qualified as "very positive" by the South Korean Leader. In particular, underlined President Kim, the decision by the North to maintain the moratorium on missile tests exceeds our expectations and will have a very positive effect on the resumption of dialogue between the United States and North Korea which must evolve, according to him, at the same time as developments in inter-Korean relations. I will resolutely move forward with the Sunshine policy of reconciliation and cooperation with Pyongyang, he added.
We are at the beginning of a very long path, windy and rocky, underlined Mr Patten over the opening of a structured dialogue over human rights in North Korea. He also recalled that Kim Jong Il feels that the ball is in the American court and that he refused to put an end to exports of military technologies, unless compensation is received. It is, he told Mr Patten, a purely commercial issue. As for the Europeans, they expect to see what Pyongyang will do to concretise its promises and answer the issues left pending (notably the free movement of humanitarian NGOs and the sale of missiles), before undertaking the normalisation of diplomatic relations. There remain insufficient elements to take a decision, felt the EU 15 to which the Troika reported on its mission to Korea, over the weekend.