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North Korea hardens stance ahead of nuclear talks
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-09-12 09:59
PROGRESS AND TRUST?
An international consortium was to supply those reactors as part of a 1994
deal under which North Korea was to freeze its nuclear weapons programs in
return for fuel assistance that would later be replaced by power from the
reactors.
Washington says the North broke the deal by pursuing a secret nuclear weapons
plan using highly enriched uranium.
The South Korean official, who asked not to be named, said the United States
would not agree to dusting off the 1994 light-water reactor deal nor striking a
new agreement under which the North gets international help to build light-water
reactors.
A separate senior South Korean official said the parties had laid most of
their cards on the table and the discussions had made strides since they began
in August 2003.
"We are not at the stage of talking about dismantlement versus corresponding
measures any more. We're much deeper into the issues," he said.
A senior Russian diplomat told Interfax news agency the six parties "have
never been so close" to reaching a deal.
Yet that optimism is not universal, and analysts note failure to make
progress at this set of talks could lead to pressure to refer the matter to the
U.N. Security Council.
U.S. officials have expressed concern about the North having any sort of
nuclear program, saying the country could use a civilian program to develop
nuclear weapons.
North Korea declared in February it had nuclear weapons. It left the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty in January 2003.
The top U.S. negotiator to the talks said North Korea, which battles energy
shortages, should look to a sweetener from South Korea to supply it with
electricity about equal to its own output after it dismantles its nuclear
weapons programs.
"Our position has been very clear on this. North Korea needs to get out of
the nuclear business," Christopher Hill, assistant secretary of state for Asia
and Pacific Affairs, told a briefing in Washington on Friday.
"In some two-and-a-half to three years, they could have new electricity being
generated into towns and villages and cities in the DPRK," he said of the
proposal from South Korea.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a briefing last week that
Beijing -- host of all the talks so far -- hoped the parties would seize the
opportunity to reach a deal.
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