By Seo Soo-min
Staff Reporter

Foreign Affairs-Trade Minister Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday said the government will maintain a firm stance over China’s move to regard the ancient kingdom of Koguryo as part of its history.

``Koguryo is the root of the Korean people and inseparable from our history. We will deal firmly with such claims by China,’’ Ban said.

During the first weekly briefing to journalists after taking office Jan. 16, Ban stressed that the Seoul government, however, doesn’t want to have a diplomatic row with Beijing over the matter.

``We believe the attempts (on Korea’s ancient history) have been made by academic circles, not by the Chinese government, and lack any political motivation,’’ Ban said.

Ban vowed the government will endeavor to enhance mutual understanding on the issue by forging more cooperation at the academic level with the Chinese side, he added.

A state-funded Chinese research team recently claimed that Koguryo, which existed from 37 B.C. to 668 A.D. and stretched from the Korean peninsula into much of the northeastern part of the present-day China, should be incorporated into Chinese history.

Koreans consider Koguryo part of its history, which along with another kingdom Paekche was later unified by Silla, based on the southeastern part of the Korean Peninsula.

The foreign minister also said that prospects for the second six-way talks being held in next month ``are not that grim,’’ as a consensus is being formed on a swift resumption of the talks.

``To resolve the crisis, North Korea must show clear resolve to scrap its nuclear weapons program completely, verifiably and irrevocably,’’ he added.

South Korea, the United States and Japan all believe that the North’s second nuclear program based on highly enriched uranium must also be discussed during talks, Ban also said.

The foreign minister also stressed the need to pursue diplomacy in concert with the understanding and support of Korean citizens. His remarks come at a time when the ministry has been embroiled in a series of embarrassing mishaps.

The ministry officially launched the ``New Foreign Affairs-Trade Project’’ on Wednesday, under which a team of 12 outside experts will conduct a bottom-up review of ministry affairs for five months.

ssm@koreatimes.co.kr