By
The Associated Press
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - The European Union said it will send mediators to North and South Korea to help spur on the peace process, following the Bush administration's decision to suspend talks with Pyongyang.
The 15 EU leaders, ending a two-day summit Saturday, said Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson will lead a delegation to Seoul and Pyongyang for talks with the countries' leaders.
"The aim is to express support for the process started by (South Korean President) Kim Dae-jung, a process aimed at bringing to an end one of the last conflicts with origins in the Second World War," Persson said at a news conference.
No official date has been set for the visit, but Persson said it could occur by late May.
The EU leaders said they decided to increase their role on the Korean peninsula because they were disappointed in the Bush administration's approach on North and South Korea.
The Clinton administration apparently was close to an agreement with North Korea to curb both development of long-range ballistic missiles and export of dangerous technology.
But President Bush claimed a missile agreement with North Korea could not be verified and said he would postpone negotiations with Pyongyang. Seoul officials expressed concern that Bush's tough stance might derail their engagement with the North.
Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh said in an interview with TV4 on Saturday that EU leaders felt it was necessary to fill the void left by Washington.
She said reducing tension between the two Koreas was important "not leastly since the outside world is worried about North Korean missiles."
The European leaders said they hoped for early results from their efforts, including "a second inter-Korean Summit," referring to a historic meeting between the Korean leaders last summer.
In North Korea, they pledged "substantive talks" with Kim Jong Il on "the full range of issues of concern to them and to the Union."
Sweden holds the six-month, rotating EU presidency until July 1. The South Korean president raised the idea of a summit between Persson and the North Korean leader when he visited Sweden after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize last year.
North Korea has slowly opened to the West in recent years. Experts say its main motive is obtaining overseas aid to rebuild its economy, devastated by years of disastrous weather and mismanagement.
The Korean Peninsula was divided into the communist North and pro-Western South in 1945. The Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
