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South Korean Negotiator Admits North Raised "Unwanted Issues" at Six- Way Talks

Posted on: Thursday, 10 November 2005, 09:00 CST

Text of report in English by South Korean news agency Yonhap

Beijing, 10 November: Six-way talks on North Korea's nuclear programme hit a snag on Thursday [10 November] after the communist state asked the United States to withdraw its latest economic sanctions against it, a source closed to the negotiations said. In early October, the US Treasury Department blacklisted eight North Korean companies suspected of being implicated in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and froze their US-based assets.

When the two-day-old six-nation talks reconvened on Thursday, the chief North Korean envoy, Kim Kye-gwan, lambasted the US action, warning that it would block progress in the negotiations, the source said. The North Korean envoy was also angry at what he called "false" US accusations that his country has long been trafficking narcotics and counterfeit dollars.

The source, requesting anonymity, said that the atmosphere of Thursday's meeting, which lasted two hours, was so tense that the other delegates could hardly continue dialogue. However, South Korea's chief negotiator Song Min-soon said that the talks were expected to continue till Friday as scheduled, while admitting that North Korea raised some "unwanted issues". Song said delegates were asked by the Chinese hosts not to reveal anything that happened at the negotiating table.

Song stressed the importance of building up trust, saying: "Each party needs to focus more efforts on what it will get than what it will not give."

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao also indicated that the negotiations were getting tough. "They have yet to reach a compromise on the framework of how to implement the agreement," he said during a regular briefing.

The North's angry response came after the chief US negotiator, Christopher Hill, ratcheted up pressure on Pyongyang. He asked North Korea to suspend the Yongbyon reactor immediately, saying that its continued operation has worsened the overall situation. The Yongbyon reactor, which comprises a five-MW graphite-moderated plutonium- reprocessing reactor, has been used to produce atomic weapons. "I think the time to stop reprocessing, time to stop that reactor, is now, and once that stops we look forward to the DPRK making a declaration on what it has for nuclear programmes and get on to the task of ridding the Korean Peninsula of the very dangerous material," Hill told reporters. DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.

North Korea can expect "positive actions" from the United States and the other parties concerned only after shutting down its Yongbyon facilities first, a South Korean delegate said. He said that the US, and other nations would consider taking various "positive" steps to advance the talks if North Korea "turns off the switch of the reactor".

"The US seems to see North Korea's closure of the nuclear reactor as the first step for building up trust?" the South Korean official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Then, the US and the other nations would be able to give some "gifts" to North Korea, he said.

He indicated that US measures to improve bilateral relations with North Korea might come before economic aid as compensation for the isolated state. Earlier this week, US ambassador to South Korea Alexander Vershbow said in Seoul that his country was willing to open a representative office in Pyongyang.

Asked to comment on Vershbow's remarks, Hill said that it could be a future option. "I think what he was talking about is the way forward and the fact that with this nuclear issue, a lot of things are possible," Hill told reporters.

This round of talks, the fifth since 2003, is likely to recess on Friday to give delegates time to prepare for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit next week in Pusan, South Korea. Wu Dawei, who heads the Chinese negotiation team, is expected to announce the chairman's statement, possibly including the date for the resumption of the talks, South Korean officials said. South Koreans want the talks to resume within this year.

Source: BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific

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