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Seoul to lobby peaceful nuclear program for North

Posted on: Wednesday, 10 August 2005, 09:19 CDT

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's top negotiator for six-party talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons programs said on Wednesday he will try to persuade the other five to let the North have a peaceful nuclear program.

Talks in Beijing this month broke off after 13 days without agreement, but the United States, North and South Korea, Japan, China and Russia are due to resume negotiations aimed at hammering out the principles of a deal the week of Aug. 29.

One of the main stumbling blocks that prevented a joint statement was North Korea's insistence that it be allowed to pursue a peaceful nuclear program.

"Our position is that North Korea should abandon its nuclear program and then we will adjust differences (with other countries) to pave the way for them to pursue a peaceful nuclear program as a sovereign state," Seoul's Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon told SBS television network.

Energy-starved North Korea says it has the sovereign right to develop peaceful nuclear power, which it says is vital to meet its electricity needs.

U.S. officials fear North Korea could use a peaceful nuclear program to help develop atomic weapons.

Analysts have also said that after decades of focusing all of its atomic research toward developing nuclear weapons, it was best to look at a North Korea demand for a peaceful nuclear program with skepticism.

South Korean officials have previously said they could support a peaceful program for North Korea only after it abandons its pursuit of nuclear weapons and agrees to abide by the terms of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

NO LIGHT WATER REACTOR DEMAND

South Korea's Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday it would be difficult for North Korea to persuade other countries at the talks that it could maintain a peaceful nuclear program, given that it had withdrawn from the NPT and expelled IAEA inspectors from its country.

Contrary to media reports that North Korea demanded proliferation-resistant, light-water reactors at the Beijing talks, Song said Pyongyang never made such A request but demanded the right to use a nuclear program for peaceful purposes, which could include light-water reactors.

Asked what he thinks about the Bush administration taking possibly different stances on nuclear issues for North Korea and Iran, Song said North Korea needed to build trust before it could be allowed to have a peaceful program.

"Non-proliferation is the global standard but we have to also consider regional factors. On top of that, what's most important is that North lacks trust. And I think President Bush is viewing North Korea from a different angle because there is a lack of trust."

The U.S. negotiator, Christopher Hill, told reporters on Tuesday in Washington that the North's wish for a light-water reactor was unacceptable because of U.S. fears it could switch the facility from research to weapon-making, as he said they had in the past.

The United States has proposed giving North Korea economic incentives and security guarantees in exchange for its dismantlement of nuclear programs.

Washington has also endorsed South Korea's proposal for energy aid for the North, which it says makes Pyongyang's quest for nuclear technology unnecessary.

Source: REUTERS

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