Russia: Inter-Korean dialogue shows signs of major improvement

Following talks between the South Korean leadership and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, the latter's participating deputy Alexander Losyukov said on Friday that the inter-Korean dialogue is marked by obvious signs of overcoming an erupted crisis.

"Even with the situation showing no drastic change, there are signs that the crisis which erupted after the pause in contacts between Pyongyang and Seoul and the subsequent incident between the naval ships of the two countries in the Yellow Sea has been overcome to a certain extent," said Losyukov.

He also pointed to North Korea's displaying official interest in resuming inter-Korean dialogue which is expected to initially proceed at the level of working groups. It is not excluded that in the future South and North Korean foreign ministers will take part in such talks. Anyway, Seoul is likely to respond in some way rather soon, said Losyukov.

In his opinion, efforts being taken by third countries, including Russia, are rather high now and Moscow, being on good terms with the north and south, could play a very positive role here.

He also reported that Japan had applied to Russia to solicit for the improvement of relationships with Pyongyang.

The South Korean side, continued Losyukov, is highly appreciating Moscow's assistance in promoting the inter-Korean dialogue and improving Pyongyang's relations with Tokyo and the USA.

In this sense, Ivanov's visit to South and North Koreas is of exceptional significance, said Losyukov. Moscow plays here the role of an honest broker, he added.