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North Korea Did Not Present Five-Step Nuclear Disarmament Plan at Talks, Diplomat Says
North Korea’s reported five-stage plan for dismantlement of its nuclear programs was not tabled as a unified proposal at last week’s multilateral talks, a Western diplomat said today (see GSN, Nov. 14). Instead, South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-Young apparently assembled the five steps from discussion points at the negotiations, the diplomat told the Associated Press. “It’s not new, the real issue is whether they will fulfill this without asking for concessions first,” the diplomat said. “We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.” Seoul is still studying the points the North Korean delegation put forth in Beijing, South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon told AP today. “We are not in a position in which we can say whether we either support it or do not support it,” Ban said. “Whoever made what proposals, those are subject to consultations and participants should review them when they meet again,” he said (Kwang-Tae Kim, Associated Press, Nov. 15). A State Department official said last week’s round of negotiations “fulfilled expectations,” according to Yonhap News. The official added that the meeting would help delegates to prepare for the next talks, possibly to take place in January (Yonhap/Korea Times, Nov. 15). Meanwhile, U.S. national security adviser Stephen Hadley said yesterday that Washington remains firm in its position that North Korea would not receive rewards until it dismantles its nuclear programs, Reuters reported. Hadley said President George W. Bush was seeking unity on the issue with his Asian allies as he travels in the region, Reuters reported. “We’ll want to continue to have a dialogue on that issue to make sure that we continue to see that issue the same way,” Hadley said. He added that Bush also expects Pyongyang to provide specific details on how it plans to verifiably disclose and dismantle its programs, Reuters reported (Reuters, Nov. 15).
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