US: Pyongyang should take 'concrete steps' toward peace

BEIJING - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) claimed on Wednesday that it is making rapid progress on work to enrich uranium and build a light-water reactor, as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Pyongyang to take "concrete steps" toward denuclearization.

Construction is "progressing apace", the official Korean Central News Agency said, quoting an unidentified foreign ministry official.

"The right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy is an issue vital for the sovereignty and development of the DPRK and, therefore, neither concession nor compromise should be allowed."

The peaceful use of nuclear energy is the only way to solve the acute electricity problem in the DPRK as it has vast nuclear energy resources, it said.

The country has neither refrained from discussing nor concealed its peaceful utilization of nuclear power, aimed at generating power, the agency said, stressing that "any concerns that may arise may be discussed at the Six-Party Talks and it can convince the world of the peaceful nature of those activities through the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)".

Other countries should have nothing to fear about the country's nuclear program as it is for peaceful purposes and geared to the production of electricity, it added.

In recent months, Pyongyang has repeatedly expressed willingness to rejoin the Six-Party Talks, which are aimed at dismantling its ongoing nuclear program, without preconditions. Wednesday's official statement said the same.

The negotiations, involving the DPRK, China, Russia, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Japan and the United States, have been stalled since December 2008.

Pyongyang officially pulled out in April 2009.

China has insisted that the relevant parties should strengthen dialogue to create favorable conditions for the early resumption of the negotiations.

An immediate resumption of the talks or changes to the region's evolving dynamics are unlikely, said Shi Yinhong, a researcher at the China Institute of International Studies in Beijing.

Washington resumed direct talks last month with Pyongyang. Earlier this month, the DPRK's state media said "the day is near at hand" when its nuclear reactor will become operational, prompting concerns from Washington that this may violate United Nations Security Council resolutions.

The ROK conducted a large-scale military exercise near its border with the DPRK last week, the first anniversary of an artillery bombardment of the ROK's Yeonpyeong Island by the DPRK.

Clinton on Wednesday called the US-ROK alliance strong while attending an aid forum in the ROK port city of Busan.

"Let me reaffirm that the United States stands with our ally, and we look to (the DPRK) to take concrete steps that promote peace and stability and denuclearization," she said.

Kim Yong-hyun, a professor at Dongguk University in Seoul, was quoted The Associated Press as saying that Pyongyang's latest statement appeared to be aimed at putting pressure on the US and the international community to resume the talks quickly.

Herman Nackaerts, deputy director general of the IAEA, on Monday said in Seoul that his agency keeps "a team prepared to go back into (the DPRK) if we get an opportunity to do so".

Meanwhile, Alexei Borodavkin, Russia's deputy foreign minister and chief negotiator at the Six-Party Talks, on Tuesday urged Pyongyang, Seoul and Washington to accelerate the "reset" of the negotiations.