Off to a new start

摘要

When the leaders of divided Korea met face-to-face for the first time a year ago, there was hope that at last the ice might be chipped from the cold war's final frontier in Asia. But the subsequent thaw, never very quick, then turned to chill again. President George Bush's decision that contacts should resume this week between American and North Korean officials on a "comprehensive" range of issues is expected to breathe some renewed warmth into North-South Korean diplomacy too. South Korea's president, Kim Dae Jung, is hoping that Kim Jong I1, his northern counterpart, will soon pay his promised return visit to Seoul, the South Korean capital. But a genuine thaw will still be a long time coming.