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South Korean Appeal for More Nuclear Talks Meets North Korean Wall
Senior South Korean envoys in Pyongyang today called for a new round of nuclear talks but the overture was met with North Korean intransigence, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Oct. 14). “I come here with hope that North Korea will have talks on the nuclear problem in a more progressive way and thus create a favorable atmosphere for inter-Korean relations,” said South Korean Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun. The top North Korean delegate to the high-level talks, Kim Ryong Song, said that only Washington can move the talks forward. “It entirely depends on the U.S. attitude whether or not to resolve the nuclear issue. I will not discuss this matter further,” Kim said. Shin Eun-sang, a spokesman for the South Korean delegation, said that “a heavy-hearted atmosphere” hung over the talks. “Our side stressed that North Korea … should come to the second round of six-way nuclear talks as soon as possible, but they just listened and gave no particular reaction,” Shin said (Jun Kwanwoo, Agence France-Presse/Arab Times, Oct. 15). Kim said North Korea had already played its hand in the nuclear negotiations. “We have already revealed our principled position on the nuclear question to the whole world,” Kim said in his keynote address at the meeting (Paul Eckert, Reuters, Oct. 15). If another round of nuclear talks comes together the United States might offer Pyongyang a nonaggression pact, something North Korean officials have long demanded. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said the agreement would be formal, written and multilateral, according to the Associated Press. State Department staff are currently looking through historical models to find a precedent that could work in the North Korean crisis (George Gedda, Associated Press/ABC News, Oct. 15).
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