[EDITORIAL] Keep an open mind

North Korea-U.S. engagement is speeding along, starting with the meeting between Ri Gun, North Korea`s second-ranking envoy to the stalled six-party talks, and Sung Kim, the U.S. special envoy on North Korean nuclear disarmament, in New York on Saturday. This was the first direct contact between officials from the two countries since President Obama`s inauguration.

Ri, who was permitted to enter the United States to attend an academic conference and seminar, will be in the United States for more than a week, opening up the possibility of North Korea and the United States making some headway in sitting down for bilateral talks.

It is not known whether the Ri and Kim were able to reach any agreement or understanding on when and where bilateral talks would take place or on what level such talks would be. The U.S. State Department, after the meeting, issued a statement saying that the United States conveyed its position on denuclearization and the six-party talks.



Here in Seoul, the past week saw a proliferation of news reports that officials from the two Koreas met to discuss a possible inter-Korean summit in a third country. The Blue House, which at first vigorously refuted the reports, then made a statement that it neither confirmed nor denied the report that a meeting took place recently in Singapore.

Kim Yang-gon, the chief of North Korea`s intelligence agency, suggested an inter-Korean summit in his meeting with President Lee Myung-bak last August when he was in Seoul as part of North Korean delegation to the late President Kim Dae-jung`s wake.

Speculation about an inter-Korean summit gained steam when North Korea`s Kim Jong-il told the visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao earlier this month that he wanted to improve relations with Seoul and Washington. Wen, meeting with Lee in Beijing, said that the international community must seize the opportunity to engage with the North.

Lee has said that he is willing to meet with North Koreans "anytime, anywhere." Now, it appears that Pyongyang is calling on Seoul to make good on that offer.

During the Singapore meeting, South reportedly said its position was that it must see a fundamental change of attitude by the North, including its denuclearization effort, before a summit can be held. It is also reported that the South said the summit venue should be held in the South, while the North insisted on its capital for security reasons. More high-level talks could take place in the coming weeks, according to government sources.

Even as more inter-Korean talks are expected, the Blue House on Saturday reiterated its position that it will not hold an inter-Korean summit that was merely a meeting of the leaders.

The Lee administration undoubtedly wants to distinguish its own possible summit from the two previous ones in 2000 and 2007 under Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun, respectively. Indeed, the two summits under liberal administrations pledged economic cooperation with the North but failed to resolve the on-going denuclearization issue.

However, to insist that a summit cannot take place without North Korea first making denuclearization efforts risks forgoing an opportunity to engage with Pyongyang at the very top level. An opportunity for the leaders of the two Koreas to directly communicate could lead to an unexpected breakthrough in denuclearizing North Korea. To most people, Seoul`s willingness to talk with Pyongyang will not be seen as a sign of weakness.

Chances are that Ri, while visiting the United States, may hold further talks on bilateral negotiations. Washington, even as it maintains its firm stance that any bilateral talks should be aimed at Pyongyang`s return to the six-party negotiations and continues to slap more sanctions against the North Korean regime, is engaging with the communist state.