By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter

South Korea will consider allowing a visit by the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in the event of a request from the public and Buddhist circles.

``We have to address the problem taking into account the ardent wishes of Buddhist and cultural circles and on the basis of the principle that Seoul-Beijing relations should develop further,’’ Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Ban Ki-moon said in an interview with the Internet-based newspaper OhmyNews.

``I am well aware that there has been growing discontent among the people in general as well as Buddhist groups concerning the government’s disallowance of the Dalai Lama’s visit,’’ he said. ``Our government has called on China on many occasions to let the Tibetan leader visit our nation given the religious freedoms permitted here and the ardent wishes of Buddhists.’’

But Ban kept a very cautious attitude about calls from some people for Seoul to use the Dalai Lama’s visit or the issue of Taiwan to cope with so-called Sino-centrism. ``It is not desirable for us to use that card, nor should we do that,’’ said the career diplomat.

Ban also said that the nation could consider releasing diplomatic archives concerning the 1965 Seoul-Tokyo agreement that established their bilateral ties, seeking ways to balance the public’s right to know with its diplomatic relations with Japan.

``There is a broad principle that the government should meet the public’s right to know, while there is another conflicting thesis that a country should consider another nation’s position in bilateral relations,’’ he said. ``Japan has asked us not to release the documents. We are considering the matter carefully.’’

In a fresh revelation with regards to the controversial issue, a senior government official said last month that Tokyo has urged Seoul not to release details of the agreement before it finalizes talks to normalize ties with North Korea.

``Japan requested that the diplomatic archives be kept secret since they could have a negative effect on its negotiations with North Korea for the envisioned setting up of bilateral diplomatic relations,’’ the official said.

The 1965 pact, which normalized relations between South Korea and Japan, made it virtually impossible for those persecuted during the 1910-45 period of Japanese colonial rule to receive compensation individually from the Japanese government.

Late dictator Park Chung-hee’s military regime received $800 million from Japan at the time, including government-level compensation, but didn’t give individuals as much money as originally promised.

The chief Seoul diplomat, in the meantime, expressed his firm belief that South Korea needs more vice foreign ministers to tackle increasingly difficult tasks in the international community.

He said his ministry needs at least three vice ministers: one for domestic and administrative affairs, one for bilateral negotiations and another for multilateral negotiations.

As for the North Korean nuclear standoff, Ban suggested the citizens should neither be too optimistic nor too pessimistic about prospects for the ongoing talks, since the multilateral dialogue format is much more complex and requires much more time than bilateral talks.

Ban expected there would be no big change in the United States’ foreign policy, especially in its dealings with the North and the whole Korean peninsula whoever wins the November presidential election.

jinryu@koreatimes.co.kr