North Korea's sudden withdrawal Tuesday from high-level talks set alarm bells ringing in Seoul but did not mean an end to reconciliation with the South, analysts and officials said.
The communist North cancelled ministerial talks with the rival South hours before its delegation was to have arrived in Seoul.
"I don't think it's a sign of breaking off the inter-Korean talks," Hong Hyun-Ik, a fellow of the private Sejong Institute think-tank told AFP.
"Instead, the communist North may have needed time to prepare for the confusing situation after the South Korea-US summit last week."
At the summit, US President George W. Bush expressed skepticism about changes in the North despite efforts by South Korea's President Kim Dae-Jung to bring his US ally closer to their Cold War foe.
"The North may have been disappointed by the South Korea-US summit, but it would be difficult to return to its past isolation," Hong said.
Professor Koh Yu-Hwan of Dongguk University in Seoul said the North seemed to require more time for the crucial talks with the South. "It seems North Korea has yet to fix its strategy," he told AFP.
Seoul officials also downplayed the impact of the postponement on relations between the two sides that have taken off since a historic summit between Kim Dae-Jung and his northern counterpart Kim Jong-Il last year.
"Don't make any hasty judgment," a top Seoul official told reporters, refuting speculation that the reconciliation timetable, including a visit to Seoul by Kim Jong-Il, would be delayed.
Seoul officials put the postponement down to the illness of the North Korean head delegate Jon Kum-Jin.
Jon is reportedly suffering the after-effects of a past stroke and has been seen carrying a bottle of medicine at previous talks.
No new date for the inter-Korean talks was indicated.
"The North, however, will not put off the talks eternally and it will contact the South soon," said Ryu Suk-Ryur of the state-run Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security.
After the disappointment of the Washington summit, South Korea is keen to set a date for the promised visit to Seoul by Kim Jong-Il during the talks.
Kim Dae-Jung considers the visit crucial for the momentum of moving toward a permanent peace on the Korean peninsula, which is still suffering the scars of its 1950-53 war.
The South Korean leader has urged Washington to resume talks with North Korea to improve Cold War relations with the communist state.
But US Secretary of State Colin Powell said there would be no imminent talks with North Korea on its missile program, an initiative left over from the administration of President Bill Clinton.
Seemingly angered by the tough new US attitude, the North on Tuesday urged South Koreans to reject "outside forces" -- the usual term for the United States -- and drop "subservience" in a special Pyongyang radio broadcast to South Koreans made just before it withdrew from the talks -- SEOUL (AFP)
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