YONHAP NEWS

(LEAD) Roh says North Korea should not have to apologize for past wrongdoings

   By Yoo Cheong-mo
SEOUL, Oct. 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said Friday that he has no intention to ask North Korea to apologize for its past wrongdoings, including the North's invasion of the South in 1950 and terrorist attacks on South Koreans.

   Roh said inter-Korean relations should now change, and a South Korean request for an apology from the North would hinder the two countries' efforts to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula.

   "There is a disparity between (the South) asking (the North) for an apology and inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation. I want to ask advocates of a North Korean apology if they are opposed to inter-Korean peace," Roh was quoted by his spokesperson as saying in a meeting with foreign correspondents based in Seoul.

   "North Korea's apology (for past wrongdoings) is a difficult question. In case of the end of a war, the loser is supposed to atone for the war damage and be liable for making an apology. But North Korea did not lose the war. It is not legally realistic to demand the North's apology," said Roh.

   Roh also said international summit talks for discussion on permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula would involve four parties: the two Koreas, the U.S. and China.

   "South Korea is certainly a member of the proposed Korean Peninsula peace summit. That is a clear agreement among me, U.S. President (George W.) Bush and Chairman Kim Jong-il (of North Korea's National Defense Commission). China has also expressed its intention to participate in the summit, turning it into a four-way meeting," said the president.

   Roh said the method of inter-Korean unification and withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea were not on the summit agenda.

   "Fresh discussions on the unification method were unnecessary with the outlook for an inter-Korean union still looking remote. Regarding the U.S. forces in South Korea, the two Koreas already have some common understanding originating from the first inter-Korean summit in 2000," said the president.

   Asked to comment on inter-Korean economic cooperation, Roh stressed that North Korea is a land of opportunity for entrepreneurs from the South. "South Korea will have to help North Korea gain access to international capitals in order to build its infrastructures," he said.

   According to Roh's spokesperson, Cheon Ho-seon, and participants in the meeting, Roh said he views the North Korean regime as stable and wanting to resolve the international row over its nuclear weapons program in order to improve relations with the U.S.

   "The reason that North Korea wants to resolve the nuclear issue is because it wants to improve relations with the United States," Roh said.

   At the beginning of this month, North Korea agreed with five other members of the six-party talks -- South Korea, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia -- to disable its nuclear facilities by the end of this year in return for aid and better ties with the U.S.

   Roh denied the suggestion that Kim is in danger of losing his grip on power after years of food shortages in his country and a summer of deadly floods.

   Regarding the relations between North Korea and Japan, Roh said he found both parties willing to mend their strained ties after conveying Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's message to North Korean leader Kim.

   "When I delivered Fukuda's message containing his wish for dialogue over the abduction issue, Kim replied that he appreciates Fukuda's dialogue-oriented stance," he said.

   ycm@yna.co.kr
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