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North Korea Resists U.S. Demand to Make First Move
North Korea today offered to scrap its nuclear arsenal, but only after the United States removes nuclear weapons allegedly deployed in South Korea and normalizes relations with Pyongyang, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, July 26). Both Seoul and Washington have denied the presence of U.S. nuclear weapons on the peninsula and are prepared to open U.S. military facilities in South Korea to inspections by the North if it agrees to a disarmament deal, Chosun Ilbo reported yesterday. “Our position concerning nuclear transparency is firm, and both South Korea and the U.S. agree that they are prepared to open up [U.S. forces in Korea] facilities if necessary,” a high-ranking South Korean official said Monday (Chosun Ilbo, July 26). U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said Pyongyang should completely undo its nuclear arms program, adding that missiles and human rights should be part of the six-nation negotiations, AP reported. North Korean officials, who met directly with the U.S. delegation in Beijing again yesterday, expressed concerns about the sequencing of concessions in any potential agreement. “They do not want to have obligations ahead of other people’s obligations,” Hill said (Burt Herman, Associated Press/winkTV.com, July 27). At the last round of talks in June 2004, the United States offered security guarantees and South Korea offered aid in return for Pyongyang agreeing to verifiably dismantle its nuclear programs. North Korea today finally responded to that proposal, saying it was “not logical, and accepting it would be difficult,” Reuters reported (Kim/Ueno, Reuters/Yahoo!News, July 27). The new, more flexible U.S. diplomatic approach to North Korea is roughly modeled on 2003 nuclear negotiations with Libya, a senior Bush administration official in Washington told the New York Times. Pyongyang’s nuclear facilities, however, are older, more advanced and better hidden than Tripoli’s were, said the official. Senior U.S. officials have said that the Bush administration remains opposed to front-loading benefits in any deal with North Korea. They have also said, however, that Hill has been given more leeway in negotiations than his predecessor, including permission for one-on-one meetings with the North Korean delegation, according to the Times (Yardley/Sanger, New York Times, July 27). Responding to a U.S. accusation at a bilateral meeting, the North Korean delegation yesterday denied that Pyongyang has a secret uranium enrichment program, ITAR-Tass reported. The United States and Japan, however, remain convinced that Pyongyang is running such a program, Kyodo Tsushin reported (Vasily Golovnin, ITAR-Tass, July 27). Elsewhere, the European Union announced that it is prepared to offer additional aid to North Korea if it becomes necessary to reach a disarmament deal, AP reported yesterday. “We have entered a new phase which we hope will have fruitful effects,” said EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana. “The negotiations now will be open-ended and will continue until ... some possible solution is found.” Solana that the European Union would review its relations with Pyongyang once a deal is achieved Associated Press/Basque News and Information Channel, July 26).
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