S. Korean president open to summit with North … maybe

Park said that denying this issue and dragging his feet on the wartime sex slavery is not in line with cosmopolitan feelings, anticipating a visible progress in bilateral negotiations in the foreseeable future.

Seoul has called on Abe to sincerely apologize and properly atone for the comfort women victims, but Japan has claimed that the issue has been settled in a 1965 treaty that normalized diplomatic ties between South Korea and Japan.

The issue has gained urgency in recent years as the victims are dying off. In 2007, more than 120 South Korean victims were alive, but the number has since dropped to 47, with their average age standing at almost 90.

The two neighbors plan to hold the next round of talks as early as possible.

A South Korean expert on the Pyongyang leadership said November 11 that Choe was likely held responsible for the failures at the Paektusan Hero Youth Power Station.

On the question of a face-to-face meeting with Kim Jong Un, she reiterated that the door to a summit remained open, albeit guarded by numerous conditions.

“It will be possible only when the North comes forward for a proactive and honest dialogue. What counts most is North Korea’s sincerity and determination to act on its words”.

Wit noted that North Korea could be hesitant to use its nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula.

South Korean President Park Geun Hye said on Friday (Nov 14) that she would be willing to hold a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but only if there was a “breakthrough” on Pyongyang’s nuclear programme.

“At the current stage, I believe it is high time for the South and North to faithfully implement what has been agreed upon and gradually build trust”, she said.

“The warmongering South Korean military has not given up the habit of fabricating events, and if it continues to engage in reckless military confrontation”, said the North, “an unpredictable conflict could take place and return North-South relations to the state of tensions prior to the August agreement”.