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S.Korea sees nuclear talks with N.Korea in Feb

Posted on: Friday, 27 January 2006, 09:24 CST

By Thomas Atkins

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said on Friday he saw signs that six-party talks with North Korea on its nuclear program could resume as early as next month.

North Korea should drop any preconditions on the resumption of the talks, Ban said at an annual business and political gathering sponsored by the World Economic Forum in the Alpine resort of Davos.

"We have seen some indications that we will have a resumption of the six-party talks in February," Ban told journalists. "North Korea should return to the six-party talks without any preconditions."

By rejecting North Korea's preconditions on resuming the talks, which have been stalled since November, South Korea affirms its position alongside the United States in urging North Korea back to the table.

North Korea has said it would be unthinkable to return to the talks -- held by the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States -- which are aimed at getting Pyongyang to drop its nuclear program while Washington imposed what amounted to "financial sanctions."

But Ban said the U.S. measures were not sanctions but simply law enforcement measures that Washington seeks to protect itself against counterfeiting.

"We have been urging the North Koreans that this is a separate issue and should be resolved on a separate track," he said. "North Korea has used all sorts of excuses. They are very creative some times."

The United States has in recent months acted against several firms and a Macau-based bank suspected of involvement in counterfeiting, money laundering and drug trafficking by North Korea.

Pyongyang is believed to earn as much as $1 billion a year from these activities, which U.S. officials say benefit the elite at the expense of North Korea's poor.

Earlier on Friday, North Korea said it would not offer any concessions to Washington or bow to hardliners, who Pyongyang feels are trying to pressure it back to the table and topple its leaders with economic sanctions.

In an interview with Reuters, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday Washington was ready to resume the six-party nuclear talks immediately.

She also called on Pyongyang to address U.S. concerns over illicit financial dealings such as counterfeiting, but said this should not be tied to the resumption of the nuclear talks.

Separately, Ban said South Korea would not close its borders to U.S. beef following the discovery of forbidden spinal material in veal sent to Japan. South Korea agreed earlier in January to reopen its borders to U.S. beef in March.

Source: REUTERS

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