The Hindu : Talks will be difficult, says North Korea

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 25, 2004

International

International

Talks will be difficult, says North Korea

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE, FEB. 24. The second round of six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear-weapons programme will begin in Beijing tomorrow on note of expectations about candid exchanges. The North Korean chief delegate, Kim Kye-gwan, said in Pyongyang today that "the talks will be difficult''.

In Beijing, he held consultations with China's chief delegate and Vice-Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, who later said that the DPRK had been `earnest' in its approach from the very beginning of the process that began last August. Referring to the speculation in the international diplomatic circles about the possible message behind the DPRK's decision to field a new chief delegate, Mr. Wang said Pyongyang would adopt "a serious and responsible attitude'' irrespective of the profile of the key representative.

Even as the heads of the six delegations held informal exchanges in bilateral or trilateral sessions today, the DPRK said the overall circumstances were "better than on the previous occasion''. It said it was hoping to "cooperate closely with China and Russia''. Significantly, the U.S., Japan and South Korea also let a similar impression gain currency as regards their own tendency to consult with one another as an informal caucus within the six-party framework. While the chief U.S. delegate and Assistant Secretary of State, James Kelly, dropped no hints about the strategic bottom-line that he might press for, Washington has repeatedly underlined the need for a "complete, verifiable and irreversible'' dismantling of the DPRK's programme. Diplomatic observers noticed some signs of flexibility on the part of the U.S., in the limited sense of willing to give the process another chance.

The South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister, Lee Soo-hyuck, was more specific about his intention to table, in some form or other, a three-stage formula. He said Pyongyang would be expected to announce its willingness to abandon its programme. This could then elicit a response from the others not to attack North Korea to disarm it of its nuclear-weapons capabilities. The second phase was envisioned as a quid pro quo process involving the commencement by the DRPK of a freeze in its programme, at one level, and the move by at least some among the other five countries to provide Pyongyang with energy aid, as a reciprocal gesture. The third and final phase would, in Mr. Lee's view, consist of an elimination of North Korea's nuclear-arms capabilities and security assurances to Pyongyang from the others.

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