DPRK should curb N-programme, but Seoul is also to blame.

21/9 Tass 234

MOSCOW, September 21 (Itar-Tass) - North Korea should curb its nuclear
programme, return to the IAEA and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. At
the same time, a share of responsibility for the tension on the peninsula
rests also with Seoul, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin
said on Tuesday, speaking at the roundtable on "Korean Peninsula:
Challenges and Opportunities for Russia".
"The Korean Peninsula is a 'peace of ice of the cold' war, which has
not melted down to this time," the diplomat emphasised. "This relic
aggravates international relations even if questions on nuclear problems
are not discussed." "The level of tension between the DPRK and South
Korea, which is now in progress, has not been recorded over the past
decade," he stated. "Russia is very interested in restoring peace in the
region."
According to Borodavkin, both sides make their "contributions" to the
tension. "Following the incident with the corvette Cheonan, active
military cooperation is recorded between South Korea and the US," he
stated.
As for North Korea, Moscow comes out for resumption of the six-party
talks, the diplomat emphasised. "We reckon that the DPRK should start
curbing nuclear programmes and return to the membership in the IAEA and
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," Borodavkin stated.
"The only correct way for settling the present problem is to toss away
all differences and to sit at the negotiating table, to start discussing
nuclear problems, disarmament, security in the broad sense of this word,
and economic problems important for the DPRK. The Korean problem should
not develop into a global one." According to the deputy minister, the next
spiral of tension may develop into an open conflict on the peninsula
between the north and the south.
A high-ranking Russian diplomat drew attention to the fact that
several economic projects could not be translated into life over the
present disputes, for instance, the linking of the Korean railways and the
Russian Trans-Siberian Railway, laying-down of a gas pipeline and electric
power transmission lines (between the North and the South). "All these
projects are still on the drawing-boards," Borodavkin stated with regret.
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