March 25, 1975
Telegram from the Romanian Embassy in Pyongyang to Bucharest, SECRET, No. 059.101
This document was made possible with support from Leon Levy Foundation
TELEGRAM
Sender: Pyongyang
CLASSIFICATION: SECRET
Date: 25.03.1975
No.: 059.101
The recent tenth meeting of the Vice-Presidents of the South-North Coordinating Committee, on which the head of the Liaison Division in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Ministry of Foreign Affairs individually informed the Romanian Ambassador and other heads of diplomatic missions, confirms our conclusion that the inter-Korean dialogue continues to stall, being practically limited to an organized exchange of accusations and labels.
In spite of the seemingly new proposals made by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea at the tenth meeting of the South-North Coordinating Committee, these are premeditatedly inoperable, tacking fundamental claims which could be solved only if the two parties gradually drew closer to one another and reached an understanding (regarding the cessation of the hostile South Korean campaign against the North, the cancellation of anti-communist measures in South Korea, etc.)
The recent discovery of another two tunnels connecting the North with the South, for which the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is blamed but which North Korea refuses to admit to, dug at great depth under the DMZ and allowing for the instantaneous launch of important [armed] forces [into South Korea], aggravated the crisis in inter-Korean relations even more, which was the main topic tackled by the Vice-President from South Korea at the most recent meeting.
In the current circumstances, it is impossible to mitigate the tensions on the Peninsula, as long as the two sides are drifting away from the political path of achieving the unification [of the country], and as long as the primordial role of the entire Korean nation in fulfilling this desideratum is ignored.
Signed: Dumitru Popa
Popa describes the breakdown of the negotiations at the North-South Coordination Committee, which has devolved into an "organized exchange of accusations and labels." He notes that the discovery of tunnels beneath the DMZ and other conditions have made it impossible to stall the rising tensions on the peninsula.
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