ID :
200870
Fri, 08/12/2011 - 12:00
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/200870
The shortlink copeid
N. Korea must halt all nuclear activities ahead of 6-party talks: FM
SEOUL, Aug. 12 (Yonhap) -- North Korea must halt all of its nuclear activities, including a uranium enrichment program, and allow U.N. inspectors to verify the suspension before stalled six-party talks reopen, South Korea's foreign minister said Friday.
"Suspension of all nuclear activities by North Korea, including its uranium enrichment program, is one of the prerequisites for the resumption of the six-party talks," Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan told reporters.
"And then, there should be a process for the International Atomic Energy Agency to verify whether the nuclear activities are halted or not," Kim said when asked what North Korea should do to restart the multilateral process.
South Korea and the U.S. pressed their demands when they met North Korea separately in bilateral talks last month, Kim said. The six-party talks also involve China, Russia and Japan.
"I think that North Korea is reviewing the conditions following talks with us and the U.S.," he said, adding the six-party talks "should be held in a more substantive and productive way if resumed."
The multinational negotiations aimed at ending the North's nuclear programs in return for economic and other rewards have been stalled since late 2008 after the North stormed out.
After meeting with Stephen Bosworth, Washington's special envoy on North Korea, in New York late last month, the North's first vice foreign minister, Kim Kye-gwan, said the discussions were "constructive."
While North Korea was upbeat about the bilateral meeting with the U.S., Washington was noncommittal, reiterating that Pyongyang must demonstrate its genuine willingness to keep its past promises to denuclearize before the multilateral talks take place.
After the bilateral meeting with the U.S., North Korea renewed its demand to resume the six-party talks "without preconditions."
The New York meeting came days after the chief nuclear envoys of South Korea and North Korea met in Indonesia on the sidelines of an Asian security conference and agreed to make joint efforts to reopen the six-party talks.
The North's uranium enrichment program is among the key obstacles to the resumption of the six-party talks.
Last November, Pyongyang stunned the world by revealing a modern uranium enrichment facility that could provide the communist regime with new material to make atomic weapons, in addition to its known plutonium-based weapons program.
kdh@yna.co.kr
"Suspension of all nuclear activities by North Korea, including its uranium enrichment program, is one of the prerequisites for the resumption of the six-party talks," Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan told reporters.
"And then, there should be a process for the International Atomic Energy Agency to verify whether the nuclear activities are halted or not," Kim said when asked what North Korea should do to restart the multilateral process.
South Korea and the U.S. pressed their demands when they met North Korea separately in bilateral talks last month, Kim said. The six-party talks also involve China, Russia and Japan.
"I think that North Korea is reviewing the conditions following talks with us and the U.S.," he said, adding the six-party talks "should be held in a more substantive and productive way if resumed."
The multinational negotiations aimed at ending the North's nuclear programs in return for economic and other rewards have been stalled since late 2008 after the North stormed out.
After meeting with Stephen Bosworth, Washington's special envoy on North Korea, in New York late last month, the North's first vice foreign minister, Kim Kye-gwan, said the discussions were "constructive."
While North Korea was upbeat about the bilateral meeting with the U.S., Washington was noncommittal, reiterating that Pyongyang must demonstrate its genuine willingness to keep its past promises to denuclearize before the multilateral talks take place.
After the bilateral meeting with the U.S., North Korea renewed its demand to resume the six-party talks "without preconditions."
The New York meeting came days after the chief nuclear envoys of South Korea and North Korea met in Indonesia on the sidelines of an Asian security conference and agreed to make joint efforts to reopen the six-party talks.
The North's uranium enrichment program is among the key obstacles to the resumption of the six-party talks.
Last November, Pyongyang stunned the world by revealing a modern uranium enrichment facility that could provide the communist regime with new material to make atomic weapons, in addition to its known plutonium-based weapons program.
kdh@yna.co.kr
