DIRECT flights on the Seoul-Taipei route may re-open in the first half of 2000, according to an official of Korea's Ministry of Construction and Transportation.
On November 24 the Taiwanese government gave clearance for talks to resume with Seoul on opening the route. "We no longer have to cling to the past, and we must do something to improve ties with Korea,'' a senior officer said.
The Koreans are ready to talk to Taiwan, said the spokesman for the Ministry of Construction and Transportation. "The resumption of a direct route is what we have always demanded. We hope that the route will open before next summer,'' he added.
However, talks to negotiate terms for re-opening the routes have not yet been scheduled.
Korean tour operators and carriers have pushed the ministry to do something to reopen the route closed since 1992 - when Taipei severed diplomatic relations with Korea to protest Seoul's establishment of ties with mainland China.
Before diplomatic relations were cut, 10 carriers operated a total of 65 weekly flights. At present only two carriers, Cathay Pacific and Thai Air, offer 16 flights a week as a stopover from Hong Kong or Bangkok, to Seoul.
"We would also welcome the resumption of the route, as we can transport a growing number of travellers between Korea and Taiwan,'' says Asiana Airlines (OZ) spokesman Lim Jae-Chull. Until the route was suspended in 1992 OZ had four flights a week Seoul-Taipei.
Talks between the two governments in 1995 and 1998 failed.