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North Korea Nixes U.S. Nuclear Proposal

Posted on: Saturday, 24 July 2004, 06:00 CDT

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea on Saturday rejected a U.S. suggestion that it follow the example of Libya and abandon its nuclear weapons programs to open the way for economic aid and improved ties with Washington.

Calling the American proposal "nothing but a sham offer," the communist state reiterated that it would freeze its nuclear facilities as a first step toward their dismantling, but only if Washington provides energy aid, lifts economic sanctions and delists the North as a sponsor of terrorism.

"It is a daydream for the U.S. to contemplate forcing the (North) to lay down arms first under the situation where both are in a state of armistice and at war technically," said an unidentified spokesman of the North's Foreign Ministry.

The comments, carried by the North's official news agency KCNA, came three days after a top U.S. disarmament official urged North Korean leader Kim Jong Il to learn from Libya and abandon his nuclear weapons development.

U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton said Wednesday that lessons learned from Libya's pledge to eliminate weapons of mass destruction can be used in six-nation talks aimed at resolving the North Korean nuclear standoff.

Three rounds of talks on North Korea's nuclear ambitions have been held in Beijing since last year, but none has produced a breakthrough. The United States, Russia, China, Japan and the two Koreas took part.

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi took bold steps toward mending ties with the West in December when his government announced it would renounce chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, and opened its weapons laboratories to international inspectors. In return, Washington has begun lifting sanctions, including travel restrictions, against the country.

On Saturday, the North Korean spokesman called the U.S. proposal "little worthy to be discussed any longer."

"The U.S. is foolish enough to calculate that such mode imposed upon Libya would be accepted by the DPRK, too," he said, using the acronym for his country's official name, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

At the latest six-nation talks in June, the United States proposed that North disclose all its nuclear activities, helping to dismantle facilities and allow outside monitoring. Under the plan, some benefits would be withheld to ensure the North cooperates.

North Korea said it would never scrap its nuclear programs first and hope to get reward later. Instead, it insisted on "reward for freeze," because "there is no confidence between the DPRK and the U.S."

A nuclear dispute flared in 2002 when U.S. officials said North Korea admitted running a secret nuclear program, based on highly enriched uranium, in violation of international agreements and a 1994 pledge to Washington that it would not develop nuclear bombs.

North Korea has since restarted its old plutonium program frozen under the 1994 pact.

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