North Korea looks west

North Korea is looking to improve ties with the West

By diplomatic correspondent Barnaby Mason

A delegation from the UK Foreign Office is beginning several days of talks in North Korea on Tuesday, in the latest in a series of accelerating contacts between the hardline Communist regime and the West.

The government of Kim Jong-il has been stepping up its diplomatic offensive over the past six months, trying to end its international isolation.

• Italy established diplomatic relations in January.
• Australia followed suit last week.
• A Belgian diplomat has been in Pyongyang over the weekend.
• An unprecedented summit between North and South Korea is due to take place in June.

Kim Jong-il: Looking for prestige as well as aid?

The apparent political thaw by the North Koreans is leading to questions over their motives.

A lot is going on beneath the surface, fuelled on the western side by fears of North Korea's missile programme and alleged nuclear weapons ambitions.

Several west European countries, including France and Germany, have held unpublicised talks with the North Koreans for some time.

Britain's dialogue began in 1995, and this meeting is the eighth in the series, the second to be held in Pyongyang.

'More relaxed'

British officials say progress has been very slow and they are are a long away from establishing diplomatic relations, in contrast to Italy and Australia.

But the officials say the atmosphere has become more relaxed.

The delegation will raise human rights and missiles, but officials will also discuss measures to build confidence, like a plan to send two English-language teachers to North Korea from September.

Workers in South Korea have backed closer ties

North Korea's agreement to hold a summit with South Korea next month has transformed the atmosphere.

Assuming it goes well, the European Union is discussing what kind of reward it might give Pyongyang - including the possibility of allowing the North Koreans to open a representative office in Brussels.

Given North Korea's dire economic situation, the leadership's drive to open up to the outside world is commonly seen as a way to get more aid.

Concessions

But more fundamental is the North Koreans' desire for prestige and recognition: diplomatic relations and meetings with the Americans and others have a highly symbolic value.

In return, the West is trying to extract concessions. One success was North Korea's agreement last September to a moratorium on missile tests.

But western officials say the North Koreans are still selling missiles to the Middle East, including to Iran, and there is no real evidence that they have changed their views.