PDA

View Full Version : North Korea Nuke Talks to Resume


aricbcool
09-12-2005, 23:18
North Korea Nuke Talks to Resume
Monday, September 12, 2005

BEIJING — The United States and North Korea were at odds over the communist nation's demands for peaceful atomic power, as officials gathered in Beijing on Tuesday for talks on ending the North's nuclear weapons program.

Participants in the six-nation talks are working on a statement of principles laying the groundwork for stopping the North's nuclear programs. The latest round of talks broke for a recess early last month after a record 13 days of talks failed to yield an agreement.

But sticking point has emerged over the North's demands for a civilian nuclear program — something Washington has strongly resisted, saying the communist state's past record proves it can't be trusted with any nuclear program.

On Tuesday, the head of North Korea's delegation said his country won't tolerate any obstructions to its right to a peaceful nuclear program, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported.

North Korea has the right to "peaceful nuclear activity," it quoted Kim Gye Gwan as saying before leaving Pyongyang on Tuesday morning to attend the talks in Beijing. "This right is neither awarded nor needs to be approved by others."

"We have this right, and the more important thing is that we should use this right," it quoted Kim as adding. "If the United States tries to set obstacle to (North Korea's) using this right, we can utterly not accept that."

The main U.S. envoy to the talks said the key resolving the standoff lies with Pyongyang.

"We know we are ready to sit down and negotiate and try to finish this thing. But the question is what (North Korea) has done during that one month," Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said in the South Korean capital on his way to the Beijing talks. Hill met Monday evening in Seoul with South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, who is headed to Pyongyang this week for Cabinet-level talks between the two Koreas separate from the nuclear forum.

On Friday, Hill reiterated a set of measures — including energy aid offered by South Korea — that he said would make it unnecessary for North Korea "to go and develop additional capacity, especially through such very difficult and extremely expensive projects as nuclear energy."

The North "has had trouble keeping peaceful programs peaceful," Hill said.

The U.S. diplomat said he would be able to gauge where this week's arms talks were headed after meeting with the North Koreans.

Hill emphasized Monday that the main issue remained getting a broad agreement on a joint statement on eliminating nuclear weapons from the peninsula.

"I really do hope we can move rapidly and move toward an agreement on these goals and principles," he said.

Analysts say the North's insistence on a peaceful nuclear program at the negotiations isn't a tactic aimed at stalling the disarmament talks, but a real concern of the regime as it tries to revive its economy.

North Korea has chronic energy shortages and blackouts, even in its capital. As of 2003, the North was able to generate less than 30 percent of its total capacity of 7.8 million kilowatts of electricity, according to South Korean government statistics.

"Economic development has been the regime's top priority since the mid-1990s," said Paik Hak-soon at the Sejong Institute in Seoul. "It's in a situation where it has to secure nuclear energy for economic recovery and development."

The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, or NPT, allows countries following its provisions to get assistance with peaceful nuclear programs, and the North has said it could rejoin the treaty if the current standoff is resolved. That would be a crucial step toward bringing the North under international monitoring of its nuclear activities.

Washington's opposition to a civilian nuclear program in the North means it would "not have any incentives whatsoever to return to the NPT," Paik warned.

Washington is seeking to portray a united front with South Korea, Japan, China and Russia at the six-nation talks. But several of those nations seem inclined to compromise.

Kahuku Saint
09-13-2005, 00:21
It's funny that you should mention this, as I was just discussing this topic with a fellow classmate.

His argument for why we haven't gone into the DPRK was, there isn't anything in it for us. (A nice though, but I don't believe things are that simple.) I was more of the mindset that DA against the DPRK would ultimately involve China (again), and that could very well be the catalyst for WWIII.

-KS

aricbcool
09-13-2005, 00:35
I don't think that DA against DPRK would involve China again as they are too busy making money off of us. It's a different world now than in the 50's and our relations with China are more open.

I think the most obvious answer to why we don't liberate DPRK is the troop commitments we have elswhere. We just can't at this point.

Thoughts?
--Aric

EDITED TO ADD: Not to mention that the American public wouldn't go for it, and Congress wouldn't vote for it, even if we had pictures and video of, as well as captured WMDs. The old "fool me twice" routine applies, regardless of the situation. :rolleyes:

aricbcool
09-15-2005, 18:00
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,169441,00.html

N. Korea Nuke Talks Stall Over Reactor Request

BEIJING — North Korea said Thursday it won't give up its nuclear weapons without receiving a reactor for generating power, stalling six-nation talks on Pyongyang's atomic programs.

"We're in a bit of a standoff at this point," said the chief U.S. delegate to the talks, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill.

Hill said no progress was made during a 90-minute meeting Thursday because Pyongyang was demanding that it get a reactor before dismantling its nuclear program.

"The basic stumbling block has to do with the issue of providing a light-water reactor," North Korean spokesman Hyun Hak Bong said in the first comment from the delegation since the talks resumed Tuesday.

Still, Hill and other delegates said the talks would continue, with no end date set.

The United States has said giving such a reactor to the North is out of the question, given the cost and the communist nation's history of deceit over its pursuit of nuclear technology to build weapons.

The North was promised two such reactors under a 1994 deal that fell apart in late 2002 after the latest nuclear crisis erupted. Light-water reactors are believed to be less easily diverted for weapons use.

"Providing a light-water reactor is a matter of principle for building trust," Hyun said. "The United States says it cannot give us a light-water reactor no matter what. It is telling us to give up the nuclear (program) first without doing its part."

"This is a problem related to the United States' political will to get rid of its hostile policy toward us and peacefully coexist," he said.

But the North Korean spokesman added that his government still hoped to "solve the nuclear issue peacefully through dialogue."

The North has been offered economic aid, security guarantees from Washington and free electricity from South Korea in exchange for dismantling its nuclear weapons program. The South Korean offer to send electricity to the North could begin delivering power in a few years, helping alleviate chronic energy shortages that have further hampered its already struggling economy.

Hill described the reactor issue as a "nonstarter."

North Korea, "not for the first time, has chosen to isolate itself," Hill said. The country "has a rather sad and long history of making the wrong decision on things."

None of the other countries at the talks, which also include Russia and South Korea, has stepped forward with an offer to foot the estimated $2 billion to $3 billion cost for building a reactor, Hill said, noting it could take up to a decade to be completed.

"There are still great differences on certain issues," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said after Thursday's meeting. He said the talks would continue.

The head of Japan's delegation, Kenichiro Sasae, also expressed pessimism, saying the situation was "extremely difficult."

These talks ended a five-week recess after the last session failed to yield an agreement after 13 days of meetings. No end date has been set.

South Korea's top envoy said the conflict wasn't an insurmountable barrier to an agreement, if Washington and Pyongyang show flexibility.

"We know very well what North Korea wants, and we have opened the window of opportunity for North Korea to have a light-water reactor in the future," said Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon.

Song said it was not necessary for that promise to be mentioned explicitly in the statement the six sides are seeking agreement on now.

China also called for the sides to seek compromise, but did not go as far as to openly back the North's stand.

"We think that any legitimate, reasonable, concern or interest of any party deserves careful study and consideration," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said.

Hill said Wednesday that North Korea has used its 25-year-old nuclear program solely to make weapons-grade plutonium for atomic bombs — not for generating electricity.

"Not a single light bulb has been turned on as a result of the nuclear reactor in North Korea," he said, referring to the country's main atomic facility in Yongbyon.

A Washington-based think tank released a satellite photo Wednesday showing that the reactor at Yongbyon has apparently been restarted, noting a steam plume was seen Sunday rising from its cooling tower. The reactor was shut down earlier this year and the North said its fuel rods were removed, a move that would allow it to harvest more weapons-grade plutonium.

The Institute for Science and International Security also released a satellite photo showing activity at the North's 50-megawatt nuclear reactor under construction, including a new road surface and possibly a crane, but said it didn't appear there was large-scale work at the site.