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Power Balance
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2000-04-23 07:06:00-04
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Korean Talks proceed amicably
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Historic meeting signals new era in the North-South relationship, future meetings planned
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In a historic meeting that may signal a new period in the relationship of North and South Korea, the two sides met this weekend as a prelude to a June summit between the two usually antagonistic nations. With the North continually being isolated from the rest of the world both economically and politically, perhaps it was just a matter of time before a change of attitude occurred, giving way to such a meeting. South Korean negotiators described the meeting as 'amicable' and thought the attitude of the North Koreans was quite different from the past. As had been signaled before the meeting, the issue of separated families is an issue that has continually plagued the relationship between the sides much as the same issue was divisive between East and West Germany, before their reunification. The two sides met in the village of Panmunjom, which sits inside the demilitarized zone and was the site for armistice talks that led to the present strained situation between the two countries. The purpose of the talks is to set an agenda for the June summit between the leaders of the two Koreas. Although the meeting was closed to the press, reports state that the North Koreans demanded that 'basic issues' be discussed at the summit. This first meeting will be a trigger for other meetings which will be required to fashion the agenda and establish procedures for the summit.
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