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North Korea May Be Willing to Discuss Uranium Enrichment Program Dispute at Talks
North Korea has reportedly expressed a willingness to discuss the dispute over whether it possesses a uranium enrichment program during multilateral talks to be held in Beijing beginning next week, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, Feb. 18). After talks with North Korea in October 2002, the United States said Pyongyang had admitted possessing a uranium enrichment program along with its already acknowledged plutonium-based nuclear activities. North Korea, however, has publicly denied possessing a uranium enrichment program. A top South Korean official told the Yonhap news agency that North Korea had expressed a willingness to discuss the issue during the next round of multinational talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons efforts, scheduled to begin Wednesday in Beijing. “I am aware that North Korea has expressed its willingness through a third country to discuss the issue of HEU (highly enriched uranium) with the United States,” the official said. “There are signs of changing in North Korea’s position,” the official added (Agence France-Presse/Channel News Asia, Feb. 19). The official also said North Korea did not admit to possessing a uranium enrichment program, according to the Associated Press. Officials at the South Korean Foreign Ministry and presidential office were unable to confirm the Yonhap report, AP reported. U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton said yesterday that North Korea’s continued denial of a uranium enrichment program could derail next week’s talks. “I think North Korea’s unwillingness to discuss the uranium enrichment program could subvert President [George W.] Bush’s determination for a peaceful, diplomatic resolution of the North Korean issue,” Bolton said (Christopher Torchia, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Feb. 18).
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