By Reuben Staines
Staff Reporter

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young on Friday promised Seoul will continue to press Pyongyang on the nuclear issue as he fended off criticism from conservatives who claim he is using the inter-Korean dialogue to boost his own political fortunes.

Chung said he will try again to convince the North to return to the stalled six-party talks to discuss its nuclear weapons programs at a Cabinet-level meeting to be held in Seoul from June 21 to 24.

``Although the North believes it has to resolve the nuclear issue with the United States, the issue will have to be seriously discussed at the ministerial talks,’’ he said during a meeting with top officials of the ruling Uri Party at the National Assembly.

Pyongyang agreed to hold a 15th round of inter-Korean Cabinet talks during vice minister-level discussions at the North Korean border town of Kaesong this week, ending its 10-month boycott of high-level dialogue with the South.

But it refused to include the nuclear issue in a three-point statement released at the end of the four-day Kaesong meeting.

The conservative opposition Grand National Party was unimpressed with the results of the talks, saying there was little substantial progress and the agreements reached seemed aimed at lifting the profile of the unification minister, who is viewed as a leading candidate for the 2007 presidential elections.

``It was as if the vice ministers’ meeting were a face saving plea by minister Chung,’’ Gu Sang-chan, the party’s vice spokesman, said in a statement.

``Although resuming talks between the South and North Korean officials is welcome, we cannot view this meeting as successful,’’ he said.

South Korea backed down on the nuclear issue and failed to persuade the North to resume reunions for families separated by the Korean War, the statement said.

There was also cynicism over an agreement for Chung to lead a 30-member delegation of South Korean officials to ceremonies marking the fifth anniversary of the breakthrough inter-Korean summit on June 15.

Speculation is growing that the unification minister will seek to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-il during the visit to Pyongyang to deliver a letter from President Roh Moo-hyun.

Yoo Ho-yeol, a professor at Korea University, said Chung is pursuing a meeting with the North Korean leader for personal political ends, not for the sake of the country.

``Using his position as unification minister in dialogue with the North is not an appropriate way to achieve his own political ambitions,’’ Yoo said.

The South’s agreement to provide 200,000 tons of fertilizer to help North Korea avert an impending food shortage could also undermine international pressure for Pyongyang to return to the stalled nuclear talks, he said.

The Unification Ministry announced it will begin trucking 10,000 tons of fertilizer across the heavily fortified inter-Korean border from Saturday. The remaining 190,000 tons will be transported by ship starting next week, officials said.

rjs@koreatimes.co.kr