ID :
34907
Wed, 12/10/2008 - 16:06
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/34907
The shortlink copeid
U.S. listing North Korea as nuclear power `evident error`: foreign minister
SEOUL, Dec. 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's top diplomat on Wednesday reinforced U.S. officials' response to a recent defense report listing North Korea as one of five nuclear powers in Asia, saying it was "evidently in error."
The controversial report made headlines as chief negotiators from the six-party
nuclear disarmament talks were meeting in Beijing Monday, striving to reach a
compromise on how to verify Pyongyang's declaration of its nuclear programs.
The report, released by the U.S. Joint Operation Command under the Defense
Department last month, categorized Pyongyang as a nuclear state along with China,
India, Pakistan and Russia, triggering concerns that Washington may be poised to
acknowledge Pyongyang as a bona fide nuclear power.
Washington has long refused to officially call the North a member of the nuclear
club, fearing such acknowledgement could encourage countries with similar
capacities to build atomic bombs.
"We have confirmed with ranking U.S. officials that the report was clearly in
error and would never be an official stance of the U.S. government," South
Korea's Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan told a parliamentary session Wednesday.
"We believe that the U.S. government will soon take necessary measures to
officially correct it."
The minister stressed that Seoul and Washington's position of not categorizing
the North as a nuclear power remains unchanged.
"We have several times agreed not to recognize North Korea as a nuclear-armed
state," he said. "Such a mistake shall not be repeated."
North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, meanwhile, took note Wednesday
of the U.S. report, saying it the first time for Washington to "officially
recognize" Pyongyang as a nuclear power.
The six-nation aid-for-denuclearization talks opened between the two Koreas, the
United States, China, Japan and Russia in 2003, then stalled in October 2006 when
Pyongyang conducted an unexpected nuclear test.
Pyongyang refuses to allow experts to take samples from its nuclear sites,
considered a key step in verifying how far North Korea's weapons program has
progressed.
hayney@yna.co.kr
(END)
The controversial report made headlines as chief negotiators from the six-party
nuclear disarmament talks were meeting in Beijing Monday, striving to reach a
compromise on how to verify Pyongyang's declaration of its nuclear programs.
The report, released by the U.S. Joint Operation Command under the Defense
Department last month, categorized Pyongyang as a nuclear state along with China,
India, Pakistan and Russia, triggering concerns that Washington may be poised to
acknowledge Pyongyang as a bona fide nuclear power.
Washington has long refused to officially call the North a member of the nuclear
club, fearing such acknowledgement could encourage countries with similar
capacities to build atomic bombs.
"We have confirmed with ranking U.S. officials that the report was clearly in
error and would never be an official stance of the U.S. government," South
Korea's Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan told a parliamentary session Wednesday.
"We believe that the U.S. government will soon take necessary measures to
officially correct it."
The minister stressed that Seoul and Washington's position of not categorizing
the North as a nuclear power remains unchanged.
"We have several times agreed not to recognize North Korea as a nuclear-armed
state," he said. "Such a mistake shall not be repeated."
North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, meanwhile, took note Wednesday
of the U.S. report, saying it the first time for Washington to "officially
recognize" Pyongyang as a nuclear power.
The six-nation aid-for-denuclearization talks opened between the two Koreas, the
United States, China, Japan and Russia in 2003, then stalled in October 2006 when
Pyongyang conducted an unexpected nuclear test.
Pyongyang refuses to allow experts to take samples from its nuclear sites,
considered a key step in verifying how far North Korea's weapons program has
progressed.
hayney@yna.co.kr
(END)
