ID :
20558
Mon, 09/22/2008 - 11:38
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/20558
The shortlink copeid
S. Korea hints at suspending energy aid for N. Korea
NEW YORK, Sept. 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has no "clear plan yet" on whether to take a retaliatory step against North Korea for its move to restart a key plutonium-producing reactor, Seoul's chief nuclear negotiator said Sunday.
Kim Sook, however, hinted at suspending promised energy aid to Pyongyang if it
continues to renege on its disarmament deal. The agreement was made during
six-party talks involving South Korea, the U.S., China, Russia, and Japan.
Seoul chairs an energy aid working group in the framework of the six-way talks
aimed at ending the North's nuclear ambitions.
"For now, there is no clear plan on halting or postponing aid for North Korea,"
Kim told reporters after a one-hour closed-door meeting with his U.S. counterpart
Christopher Hill in New York. "There was no concrete discussion on the (energy
aid) issue."
Kim said the North's future stance would be a key factor.
"It depends on how the situation will proceed," Kim said, "Certainly, the
economic and energy assistance for North Korea is part of a scheme based on an
action-for-action principle."
Hill pointed out that the six-way talks are facing a difficult situation, adding
the U.S. will continue efforts to coax Pyongyang into cooperating with a plan to
verify its recent nuclear declaration.
The U.S. maintains that verification is a vital precondition to removing the
communist state from its list of state sponsors of terror.
North Korea announced on Aug. 26 that it had stopped work to disable the nuclear
reactor in Yongbyon.
The North's Foreign Ministry said last Friday that "work has been under way to
restore its nuclear facilities."
The U.S. State Department said later that North Korea has not yet reactivated
them but is moving closer to doing so.
"They haven't gotten to that point yet and we would urge them not to get to that
point," department spokesman Sean McCormack said at a press briefing.
South Korean negotiators said the North's intentions remain unclear. They
construe the North's recent move as aimed at putting pressure on Washington to
remove it from the terror list. But Seoul has not ruled out the possibility that
the unpredictable regime will take additional steps.
"North Korea initially linked its nuclear disablement with energy aid, while
linking the nuclear declaration with political incentives," a South Korean
negotiator said.
"But it is now using the disablement as a card to gain U.S. concessions on its
removal from the terror list."
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)
Kim Sook, however, hinted at suspending promised energy aid to Pyongyang if it
continues to renege on its disarmament deal. The agreement was made during
six-party talks involving South Korea, the U.S., China, Russia, and Japan.
Seoul chairs an energy aid working group in the framework of the six-way talks
aimed at ending the North's nuclear ambitions.
"For now, there is no clear plan on halting or postponing aid for North Korea,"
Kim told reporters after a one-hour closed-door meeting with his U.S. counterpart
Christopher Hill in New York. "There was no concrete discussion on the (energy
aid) issue."
Kim said the North's future stance would be a key factor.
"It depends on how the situation will proceed," Kim said, "Certainly, the
economic and energy assistance for North Korea is part of a scheme based on an
action-for-action principle."
Hill pointed out that the six-way talks are facing a difficult situation, adding
the U.S. will continue efforts to coax Pyongyang into cooperating with a plan to
verify its recent nuclear declaration.
The U.S. maintains that verification is a vital precondition to removing the
communist state from its list of state sponsors of terror.
North Korea announced on Aug. 26 that it had stopped work to disable the nuclear
reactor in Yongbyon.
The North's Foreign Ministry said last Friday that "work has been under way to
restore its nuclear facilities."
The U.S. State Department said later that North Korea has not yet reactivated
them but is moving closer to doing so.
"They haven't gotten to that point yet and we would urge them not to get to that
point," department spokesman Sean McCormack said at a press briefing.
South Korean negotiators said the North's intentions remain unclear. They
construe the North's recent move as aimed at putting pressure on Washington to
remove it from the terror list. But Seoul has not ruled out the possibility that
the unpredictable regime will take additional steps.
"North Korea initially linked its nuclear disablement with energy aid, while
linking the nuclear declaration with political incentives," a South Korean
negotiator said.
"But it is now using the disablement as a card to gain U.S. concessions on its
removal from the terror list."
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)
