The Hindu : North Korea offers to halt tests, production of fissile material

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 07, 2004

International

International

North Korea offers to halt tests, production of fissile material

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE Jan. 6. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) today announced a "bold concession'' to the United States in the battle of diplomatic attrition between the two ahead of a possible second round of multilateral talks on ways to `de-nuclearise' the Korean peninsula. As monitored in Seoul, Pyongyang's official news agency said: "The DPRK is set to refrain from testing and production of nuclear weapons and even (to) stop operating (the) nuclear power industry (which is) used for peaceful purposes''. These offers, according to North Korea, could constitute the "first-phase measures of (a) package solution''.

The U.S. earlier demanded that the DPRK renounce its suspected nuclear-weapons `programme' and other weapons of mass destruction in a fashion that would mark a complete, irreversible and verifiable `de-nuclearisation' of Pyongyang's weapons-capable facilities. The DPRK said that "this cannot but be one more bold concession'' to the U.S. The offer punctuates the diplomatic activity following the move by a non-official American delegation to visit Pyongyang this week and also, if possible, the Yongbyon nuclear facilities. The characterisation of the offer as "bold concession'' is being viewed in the Asia Pacific diplomatic circles as a transparent reminder of Pyongyang's earlier stand.

This was that Pyongyang would be willing to give up its nuclear-weapons `capabilities' if the U.S. were to offer a credible pledge to respect its viability as a secure state. Pyongyang's strategic bottom line is that the U.S. and the DPRK should address each other's concerns in a reciprocal fashion. This idea is now being described in the offer as a "package solution''.

The major diplomatic nuance is that the DPRK has now spoken about its willingness to take the "first-phase measures''. But the principle of simultaneous steps has not been given up. However, the DPRK has spoken, for the first time, about giving up its nuclear-energy production even for peaceful purposes.

While many Western strategic experts insist that the U.S. should cajole or coerce North Korea to remove its "hand from the nuclear cookie jar'', the DPRK today reminded the U.S. that no deals could be done if it persisted in asking Pyongyang to `de-nuclearise' its capabilities first and without any reciprocal gestures.

The DPRK's state agency said: "Such a persistent stand by the U.S. will destroy the foundation of the dialogue (under the six-party talks) and cast a dark shadow on the prospect for (resuming) talks''. The multilateral parleys, which China is seeking to re-convene, include the U.S. and the DPRK, besides Japan, South Korea and Russia. Washington's official stand "shows the U.S. is only keen on disarming the DPRK after forcing it to scrap its nuclear programme'', the statement said.

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