ID :
23439
Thu, 10/09/2008 - 12:43
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/23439
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NORTH KOREA NEWSLETTER NO. 24 (October 9, 2008)
*** TOPIC OF THE WEEK
Christopher Hill Visits Pyongyang Hoping to Break Nuclear Impasse
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill made a
three-day visit to Pyongyang last week hoping to make a breakthrough in North
Korea's stalled denuclearization process, but the envoy gave no indication that
his trip had produced any conclusive results.
Hill's trip came amid growing tension over the communist state's recent steps to
reverse the disablement of its Yongbyon nuclear complex. Washington and Pyongyang
have also been at odds over how to verify the North's June nuclear declaration.
Although no details have been disclosed, Seoul officials believe the talks
yielded some results and that the North may have proposed a meeting of
high-ranking military officials between Pyongyang and Washington to discuss the
verification issue.
Upon returning to Seoul on Oct. 3, the chief U.S. nuclear envoy said he had
"substantive" and "lengthy" talks with North Korean officials.
"There's been a lot of problems in the past couple of months regarding the
six-party process, so we had a substantial review of activities," Hill said at a
news conference after meeting with his South Korean counterpart, Kim Sook.
The six-party talks -- which also involve South Korea, China, Japan and Russia --
unraveled in August when Pyongyang said it was restarting its main nuclear
facilities at Yongbyon following a dispute over Washington's failure to remove
the North from its terrorism blacklist.
Hill said that among the North Korean officials he met during the trip were his
counterpart Kim Kye-kwan and Lt. Gen. Ri Chan-bok, the chief military
representative assigned to the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom. Hill's
meeting with Ri spawned media speculation that they might have discussed military
issues, including a plan to formally end both the 1950-53 Korean War and
Pyongyang's long-standing demand for mutual inspections of nuclear programs in
South and North Korea.
The trip was Hill's third to North Korea for nuclear discussions, but was his
first involving a meeting with a North Korean military official. Hill's trip to
North Korea, originally scheduled to end on Oct. 2, was extended by an additional
day.
Following the news conference, a South Korean diplomatic source hinted that a
face-saving compromise might have been made during Hill's trip in which North
Korea might come clean on its suspected uranium enrichment and proliferation and
allow verification of its plutonium activities.
From Seoul, Hill flew to Beijing on Oct. 4 and met Chinese Vice Foreign Minister
Wu Dawei, who chairs the six-way talks aimed at denuclearizing North Korea. The
U.S. envoy returned to Washington after briefing his Chinese counterpart and the
Russian ambassador to China on the negotiations.
Key negotiators have remained silent since Hill's talks, giving rise to
speculation that the North may have made a significant proposal to the top U.S.
nuclear negotiator. Some officials say North Korea may have proposed high-level
talks between Washington and Pyongyang that would involve a comprehensive agenda,
including military issues, nuclear disarmament and peace on the Korean Peninsula.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan on Oct. 7 hinted at progress in talks
between North Korea and the United States on the verification of Pyongyang's
nuclear program, saying both sides are showing flexibility.
"The U.S. is handling the issue with utmost flexibility, although there is no
change in substantial content," Yu told lawmakers during an annual parliamentary
inspection of his ministry's affairs.
Sung Kim, the U.S. special envoy to the six-party talks, is staying in Seoul to
convey Washington's position to the South Korean government after an internal
review of Hill's trip is concluded, the minister added.
The securing of a verification regime to check the authenticity of the North's
recent nuclear declaration is the latest sticking point in the denuclearization
process. The U.S. says a verification protocol that would allow soil sampling and
access to key sites is a precondition for the removal of the North from its list
of terrorism sponsoring nations under a 2007 aid-for-disarmament agreement.
Pyongyang argues that Washington's verification plan is too strict and intrusive.
A South Korean government source said that North Korea is demanding "additional
incentives" in return for accepting part of the U.S.'s terms. The North
reportedly claims that the sites the U.S. wants to inspect include major military
facilities, which must be relocated before the verification process begins.
But a pro-Pyongyang daily in Japan said on Oct. 6 that North Korea appears to
have made to the United States a "bold and epochal" proposal that calls for a
military and political resolution to break the current impasse in the
multinational talks. Choson Sinbo, published by a pro-North Korean group in
Japan, said Pyongyang delivered the "ultimatum" to the top U.S. nuclear envoy.
The newspaper said that if Washington fails to accept the proposal, North Korea
would abandon the six-nation disarmament talks. It did not elaborate on the
content of the proposal.
"The North Korean side appears to have suggested ways to peacefully resolve the
nuclear dispute through the top U.S. negotiator to the six-party talks and issued
an ultimatum," the daily said in a commentary. "The six-party talks, which were
reactivated after North Korea's underground nuclear test in October 2006, may
breakdown if the two sides fail to reach an agreement."
In such a case, North Korea would no longer adhere to the six-party framework and
may try to reverse its nuclear disablement process to strengthen its negotiating
power with the next U.S. government, the daily said. The fact that Pyongyang
invited the U.S. nuclear envoy to the country, however, shows it does not want to
waste diplomatic efforts made so far, the newspaper added.
South Korean officials have said that North Korea only issues invitations to
foreigners if their application to travel there is approved.
The North announced in mid-August it would halt the disablement of its nuclear
facilities in Yongbyon. Pyongyang told the International Atomic Energy Agency
late last month that it was prepared to reload nuclear material into the
plutonium reprocessing plant, where weapons-grade material would be extracted
from spent fuel rods.
Diplomatic sources in Seoul say the U.S. and North Korea will likely hold
additional talks this week, marking a pivotal point in the fate of the
multinational talks. North Korea may demand cross-inspections on suspected
nuclear sites in both South and North Korea, officials here said. Pyongyang has
said its denuclearization depends on whether the U.S. can ensure that there are
no U.S. nuclear weapons in South Korea. Seoul has maintained there are no U.S.
nuclear weapons on its soil.
The U.S. military deployed tactical nuclear weapons to the peninsula decades ago,
but pulled out them in the early 1990s.
Hill is expected to receive specific guidelines from senior staff in Washington
on how to respond to the North's proposal, after briefing Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice and other parties in the six-nation talks. Sources say he may
then send Kim, the U.S. special envoy to the six-party talks, to the Pyongyang
for additional negotiations.
The U.S. may also hold consultations with South Korea ahead of its decision on
the proposal, according to sources.
"The pending military issues between North Korea and the United States are
unavoidably linked to discussions of peace on the Korean Peninsula. They are not
only bilateral matters between the North and the United States, but also involve
the six countries including South Korea and China," one source said.
Kim Sook, South Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, said on Oct. 3 that Seoul and
Washington may hold high level talks to put the six-party negotiations back on
track. But diplomatic sources have said Seoul would oppose any bilateral military
talks between Washington and Pyongyang, as a discussion that excludes South Korea
would damage Seoul's crucial interests.
(END)
Christopher Hill Visits Pyongyang Hoping to Break Nuclear Impasse
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill made a
three-day visit to Pyongyang last week hoping to make a breakthrough in North
Korea's stalled denuclearization process, but the envoy gave no indication that
his trip had produced any conclusive results.
Hill's trip came amid growing tension over the communist state's recent steps to
reverse the disablement of its Yongbyon nuclear complex. Washington and Pyongyang
have also been at odds over how to verify the North's June nuclear declaration.
Although no details have been disclosed, Seoul officials believe the talks
yielded some results and that the North may have proposed a meeting of
high-ranking military officials between Pyongyang and Washington to discuss the
verification issue.
Upon returning to Seoul on Oct. 3, the chief U.S. nuclear envoy said he had
"substantive" and "lengthy" talks with North Korean officials.
"There's been a lot of problems in the past couple of months regarding the
six-party process, so we had a substantial review of activities," Hill said at a
news conference after meeting with his South Korean counterpart, Kim Sook.
The six-party talks -- which also involve South Korea, China, Japan and Russia --
unraveled in August when Pyongyang said it was restarting its main nuclear
facilities at Yongbyon following a dispute over Washington's failure to remove
the North from its terrorism blacklist.
Hill said that among the North Korean officials he met during the trip were his
counterpart Kim Kye-kwan and Lt. Gen. Ri Chan-bok, the chief military
representative assigned to the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom. Hill's
meeting with Ri spawned media speculation that they might have discussed military
issues, including a plan to formally end both the 1950-53 Korean War and
Pyongyang's long-standing demand for mutual inspections of nuclear programs in
South and North Korea.
The trip was Hill's third to North Korea for nuclear discussions, but was his
first involving a meeting with a North Korean military official. Hill's trip to
North Korea, originally scheduled to end on Oct. 2, was extended by an additional
day.
Following the news conference, a South Korean diplomatic source hinted that a
face-saving compromise might have been made during Hill's trip in which North
Korea might come clean on its suspected uranium enrichment and proliferation and
allow verification of its plutonium activities.
From Seoul, Hill flew to Beijing on Oct. 4 and met Chinese Vice Foreign Minister
Wu Dawei, who chairs the six-way talks aimed at denuclearizing North Korea. The
U.S. envoy returned to Washington after briefing his Chinese counterpart and the
Russian ambassador to China on the negotiations.
Key negotiators have remained silent since Hill's talks, giving rise to
speculation that the North may have made a significant proposal to the top U.S.
nuclear negotiator. Some officials say North Korea may have proposed high-level
talks between Washington and Pyongyang that would involve a comprehensive agenda,
including military issues, nuclear disarmament and peace on the Korean Peninsula.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan on Oct. 7 hinted at progress in talks
between North Korea and the United States on the verification of Pyongyang's
nuclear program, saying both sides are showing flexibility.
"The U.S. is handling the issue with utmost flexibility, although there is no
change in substantial content," Yu told lawmakers during an annual parliamentary
inspection of his ministry's affairs.
Sung Kim, the U.S. special envoy to the six-party talks, is staying in Seoul to
convey Washington's position to the South Korean government after an internal
review of Hill's trip is concluded, the minister added.
The securing of a verification regime to check the authenticity of the North's
recent nuclear declaration is the latest sticking point in the denuclearization
process. The U.S. says a verification protocol that would allow soil sampling and
access to key sites is a precondition for the removal of the North from its list
of terrorism sponsoring nations under a 2007 aid-for-disarmament agreement.
Pyongyang argues that Washington's verification plan is too strict and intrusive.
A South Korean government source said that North Korea is demanding "additional
incentives" in return for accepting part of the U.S.'s terms. The North
reportedly claims that the sites the U.S. wants to inspect include major military
facilities, which must be relocated before the verification process begins.
But a pro-Pyongyang daily in Japan said on Oct. 6 that North Korea appears to
have made to the United States a "bold and epochal" proposal that calls for a
military and political resolution to break the current impasse in the
multinational talks. Choson Sinbo, published by a pro-North Korean group in
Japan, said Pyongyang delivered the "ultimatum" to the top U.S. nuclear envoy.
The newspaper said that if Washington fails to accept the proposal, North Korea
would abandon the six-nation disarmament talks. It did not elaborate on the
content of the proposal.
"The North Korean side appears to have suggested ways to peacefully resolve the
nuclear dispute through the top U.S. negotiator to the six-party talks and issued
an ultimatum," the daily said in a commentary. "The six-party talks, which were
reactivated after North Korea's underground nuclear test in October 2006, may
breakdown if the two sides fail to reach an agreement."
In such a case, North Korea would no longer adhere to the six-party framework and
may try to reverse its nuclear disablement process to strengthen its negotiating
power with the next U.S. government, the daily said. The fact that Pyongyang
invited the U.S. nuclear envoy to the country, however, shows it does not want to
waste diplomatic efforts made so far, the newspaper added.
South Korean officials have said that North Korea only issues invitations to
foreigners if their application to travel there is approved.
The North announced in mid-August it would halt the disablement of its nuclear
facilities in Yongbyon. Pyongyang told the International Atomic Energy Agency
late last month that it was prepared to reload nuclear material into the
plutonium reprocessing plant, where weapons-grade material would be extracted
from spent fuel rods.
Diplomatic sources in Seoul say the U.S. and North Korea will likely hold
additional talks this week, marking a pivotal point in the fate of the
multinational talks. North Korea may demand cross-inspections on suspected
nuclear sites in both South and North Korea, officials here said. Pyongyang has
said its denuclearization depends on whether the U.S. can ensure that there are
no U.S. nuclear weapons in South Korea. Seoul has maintained there are no U.S.
nuclear weapons on its soil.
The U.S. military deployed tactical nuclear weapons to the peninsula decades ago,
but pulled out them in the early 1990s.
Hill is expected to receive specific guidelines from senior staff in Washington
on how to respond to the North's proposal, after briefing Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice and other parties in the six-nation talks. Sources say he may
then send Kim, the U.S. special envoy to the six-party talks, to the Pyongyang
for additional negotiations.
The U.S. may also hold consultations with South Korea ahead of its decision on
the proposal, according to sources.
"The pending military issues between North Korea and the United States are
unavoidably linked to discussions of peace on the Korean Peninsula. They are not
only bilateral matters between the North and the United States, but also involve
the six countries including South Korea and China," one source said.
Kim Sook, South Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, said on Oct. 3 that Seoul and
Washington may hold high level talks to put the six-party negotiations back on
track. But diplomatic sources have said Seoul would oppose any bilateral military
talks between Washington and Pyongyang, as a discussion that excludes South Korea
would damage Seoul's crucial interests.
(END)
