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North Korea “Not Interested” in U.S. Offer; China Turns Down Fuel Oil Request
The most recent U.S. offer of aid in exchange for nuclear disarmament is “nothing new,” a North Korean diplomat said Monday in dismissing the proposal (see GSN, July 13). “We are not interested in that,” Han Song Ryol, deputy chief of Pyongyang’s mission to the United Nations, told the Yonhap News Agency. Asked if North Korea could emulate Libya in its nuclear disarmament, as suggested by U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice last week, Han said there was no parallel to be drawn. “There is no need to compare the two countries; we are not Libya,” he said. “The U.S. and Britain are said to have negotiated with Libya through ‘quiet diplomacy’ but we have not had any type of negotiations with the U.S. so far,” he added (Yonhap, July 13). U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said yesterday he had not seen Han’s statement, but said the Bush administration continues to urge North Korea to consider the proposal. “I would not describe anything we’ve seen as a definitive response [to the offer], and we’re looking for them to study it carefully, take advantage of the opportunity that we’re offering to move forward towards the goal,” Boucher said. Meanwhile, China has rejected North Korean requests for fuel due to concerns it could be used for missile and nuclear development, according to military sources familiar with relations between the two countries. Several times within the last year, North Korea requested a special type of fuel that burns well under freezing temperatures, the military sources said, according to Kyodo News Service. China turned down the requests because the substance could be used in combustion experiments to develop long-range ballistic missiles and for nuclear development, the sources added (Kyodo News Service/Japan Today, July 13). Elsewhere, the summit meeting set for July 21-22 between South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is expected to focus on North Korea’s nuclear program, a senior South Korean official said yesterday. “The North Korean nuclear issue will be at the top of the agenda for the summit talks,” said Foreign Affairs-Trade Minister Ban Ki-moon (Shim Jae-yun, Korea Times, July 13).
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