Roh Does Not Want North Korea to Collapse

Roh Says He Doesn't Want to See NK to Collapse

BALI, Indonesia - President Roh Moo-hyun said Tuesday that he doesn’t want to see North Korea collapse and that is one of key principles of his administration in dealing with Pyongyang.

“We aim to co-exist with North Korea rather than absorbing it or pushing it to collapse and the primary means of inter-Korean co-existence is dialogue,” Roh said in a speech at the morning session of the ASEAN Plus Three summit on corporate investment.

He said it is true that some South Koreans believe that Pyongyang is untrustworthy and that the best way of dealing with it is confrontation that will in due process trigger the collapse of the regime.

“However, I intend to follow the ¡®sunshine’ policy of engaging North Korea introduced by my predecessor Kim Dae-jung to achieve a lasting peace on the Korean peninsula through dialogue,” he said.

Referring to the North Korean nuclear standoff, he praised China’s role, expressing his hope that it will play the same role as it did in the lead up to the first round of six-way talks to realize a second round.

“I hope that China will be successful once again in helping both North Korea and the United States take a step back in compromise,” he said.

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