Relations with N. Korea will improve after current cool spell: official

SEOUL, Sept. 30 (Yonhap) -- Inter-Korean relations that have cooled in recent months will improve and become more concrete in the near future, South Korea's vice unification minister said Tuesday.

"The current impasses should be viewed as a process that will eventually help
push South-North relations to the next level," Hong Yang-ho said at a meeting of
educational groups in Seoul.
The policymaker then said that once a new chapter is opened in cross-border
relations, ties should improve more rapidly and become more solid than in the
past.
"The current administration will not be swayed by transient difficulties, but
will remain focused on long-term goals that can help establish peace and
prosperity on the Korean Peninsula," he said.
Hong then said that while critics claim that inter-Korean relations have suffered
since President Lee Myung-bak took power, Seoul has consistently requested talks
despite unwarranted attacks by the North.
He pointed out that the North must realize that the present lack of dialogue is
not disadvantageous to all sides, and that it would be best if the communist
country understood the true intent of the new administration's desire to work
together for the mutual good.
The vice minister also said that once talks begin, both sides must reach an
understanding to honor all past pacts that are designed to improve bilateral
cooperation and ease tensions.
Pyongyang has been insisting that Seoul pledge to uphold the June 15 and Oct. 4
declarations made under the progressive Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun
administrations, which had received criticism from conservatives for being overly
lenient toward the North.
South Korea has countered that Pyongyang must first acknowledge other pacts,
including the July 4 declaration reached in the early 1970s. The declaration
calls for increased dialogue to bring about reunification and prevent military
conflict.