Inter-Korean relations cannot be expected to make rapid progress despite last week's rare denuclearization talks between the two sides, Seoul's foreign minister said Monday. South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan made the remark on a radio program, three days after the meeting took place on the sidelines of a regional security forum in Bali, Indonesia. Wi Sung-lac, South Korea's top envoy to the stalled six-party denuclearization talks, and his North Korean counterpart, Ri Yong-ho, held talks for the first time in 31 months, raising hopes for a breakthrough in chilled inter-Korean ties, according to a report of Yonhap news agency. "(We) can't immediately expect rapid progress in inter-Korean relations just because of the Bali talks," Kim said. "The Bali talks have significance in that they played a kind of catalytic role in inter-Korean relations."
