'저는 그들의 땅을 지키기 위하여 싸웠던 인디안들의 이야기를 기억합니다. 백인들이 그들의 신성한 숲에 도로를 만들기 위하여 나무들을 잘랐습니다. 매일밤 인디안들이 나가서 백인들이 만든 그 길을 해체하면 그 다음 날 백인들이 와서 도로를 다시 짓곤 했습니다. 한동안 그 것이 반복되었습니다. 그러던 어느날, 숲에서 가장 큰 나무가 백인들이 일할 동안 그들 머리 위로 떨어져 말과 마차들을 파괴하고 그들 중 몇몇을 죽였습니다. 그러자 백인들은 떠났고 결코 다시 오지 않았습니다….' (브루스 개그논)





For any updates on the struggle against the Jeju naval base, please go to savejejunow.org and facebook no naval base on Jeju. The facebook provides latest updates.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Text fwd: S. Korea encouraged UN Command to ignore N. Korea’s proposal for talks

*Image Source/caption*

'PANMUNJEOM -- North Korean soldiers look southward inside the Demilitarized Zone in the truce village of Panmunjeom on November 21, 2008.'

http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_northkorea/342354.html

S. Korea encouraged UN Command to ignore N. Korea’s proposal for talks
Talks took place only because of agreement from the U.S., according to one source
Hankyeoreh, posted on March 5, 2009

The South Korean government suggested the United Nations Command ignore a proposition made by North Korea on Feb. 28 that there be top military talks between the North and the UN Command, but the United States said yes to the same meeting that eventually took place on March 2, saying it would be better to actually meet and talk.

According to a source knowledgeable about the U.S.-South Korean relationship, the talks between the North and the UN Command of March 2 happened only because the United States said it would meet with the Northerners in its capacity as part of the UN Command after Seoul said it wanted to ignore the North’s proposal and not have a meeting.

“The different judgments and responses by Seoul and Washington show you there are no small differences between the two countries about how they view the recent political situation on the Korean Peninsula and their strategies for dealing with the North,” the source said. The reason the UN Command met with the North on March 2 without first having revealed the North had proposed the closed meeting appears to have been because South Korean and American authorities needed time to reconcile their positions.

A South Korean Ministry of National Defense official, however, insisted that “our government was positive about the talks from the very start” and that there “weren’t any points of discord or differences of opinion between us and the Americans.”

While the Seoul government has said close to nothing about the talks, the UN Command and American officials are calling the meeting “useful,” with a U.S. State Department spokesperson saying the United States welcomes such talks since they “prevent misunderstanding.”

The meeting March 2 was a “general-level” military talk, the first of its kind in roughly six and a half years. A “colonel-level” meeting is scheduled on March 5 and a “general-level” meting on March 6. Both meetings will take place in Panmunjom.

The North proposed the March 2 meeting on Feb. 28, when it sent a prepared telephone statement in the name of an “official responsible for working-level military affairs” in “North-South Management Sector of the West and East Sea Zone.” The statement criticized what it called “American military provocations in the North-South Management Sector” (nambuk gwalli guyeok) and called for the end to U.S.-South Korean military exercises scheduled for March 9-20.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]

* Related Articles*

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=61157
North Korea, U.N. slated to restart talks
By Jimmy Norris, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Saturday, March 7, 2009

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=61074
U.N. Command attends talks with North Korea
Pyongyang reportedly called meeting to reduce tension
By Jimmy Norris, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Wednesday, March 4, 2009


* Related blog*

http://nobasestorieskorea.blogspot.com/2009/03/stop-key-resolve-war-exercise.html

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