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DPRK, EU talk peace
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LEADER of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Kim Jong Il met Pyongyang on Wednesday with a European Union delegation led by Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson.
At a press briefing after the meeting, Persson, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU, said the visit is intended to further defuse the tension and promote reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula.
The delegation, which also includes EU foreign policy and security chief Javier Solana and EU External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten, is the highest-level mission from the West to visit the DPRK.
The visit is viewed as a landmark event taking place at a time when the Bush administration has toughened America's policy toward the DPRK.
However, Persson said the 15-nation bloc was not trying to take the place of the United States in fostering a reconciliation between the DPRK and South Korea.
“We are not here to act as a mediator between the DPRK and the United States or indeed between the DPRK and South Korea," he said, adding that there is no difference in the policies between the EU and the United States toward the DPRK.
Meanwhile, he described the meeting with Kim as “short but productive" which set the agenda for their formal talks on Thursday on the issues of the reconciliation process, the missile programme and food shortages.
“The main point of the trip is to do whatever we can to help the peace process on the Korean peninsula move out of this sticky period," he said.
Several EU nations including Italy, Britain, Germany and Spain have established diplomatic relations with the DPRK since January 2001, bringing the number of EU countries which have diplomatic ties with Pyongyang to 13, with the exception of France and Ireland.
At an historic summit last June, Kim Jong Il and South Korean President Kim Dae-jung pledged to renounce hostilities, promote national unification and arrange family reunions. The groundbreaking summit prompted the European countries, which had hardly any diplomatic contacts with the DPRK during the Cold War, to kick off the process of improving their relations with Pyongyang.
The DPRK's official newspaper Rodong Sinmun said on Wednesday in an editorial that the current EU visit is expected to help deepen the understanding and trust between the DPRK and the EU and open a new chapter in developing the bilateral relations.
It said the DPRK will make positive efforts to favourably develop the relations with the EU on the basis of independence, peace and friendship.
It also said the DPRK and EU would make concerted efforts to promote their bilateral ties in various fields.(Xinhua)
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