N. Korea hints at accepting talks on nuclear issue
SEOUL, April 12: North Korea said on Saturday it would accept any form of dialogue with the United States over its suspected nuclear programme should Washington abandon its hostile policy toward the communist state.
Pyongyang has previously said it is holding out for one-on-one talks with Washington to resolve the dispute over its nuclear ambitions.
Washington has rejected Pyongyang’s demand, insisting a bilateral negotiating track would amount to a reward for “bad behaviour” by North Korea.
“If the US is ready to make a bold switchover in its Korea policy for a settlement of the nuclear issue, the DPRK (North Korea) will not stick to any particular dialogue format,” a spokesman of the North’s foreign ministry said.
“The solution to the issue depends on what is the real intention of the US,” he was quoted as saying by Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency.
The spokesman said Pyongyang’s long-standing call for one-on-one was intended to confirm whether the United States had the political willingness to drop its hostile policy towards North Korea.
“... it is possible to solve the issue if the US sincerely approaches the dialogue,” he said.
North Korea has also demanded a non-aggression treaty from Washington to guarantee that the United States will not attack. It has accused the United States of seeking to attack it after the US-led war in Iraq.
The statement coincided with a warning by the South Korean president that the nuclear confrontation must be resolved peacefully to avoid an armed conflict, which he said would have “disastrous” consequences not only for both Koreas, but also the world.
“The North Korean nuclear issue is now looming larger than ever before. North Korea’s nuclear development must not be condoned,” President Roh Moo-Hyun told a group of foreign dignitaries in Seoul.
“However, this issue must be resolved through peaceful means. Should a war break out again, its disastrous consequences would not be confined to the Korean peninsula,” he said.
Seoul angered US officials by calling for direct one-on-one talks between Pyongyang and Washington. It later changed its tack, urging the North to accept multilateral talks which could include bilateral negotiations.
While pursuing inter-Korean talks, South Korea will continue coordinating policy toward North Korea with the United States and Japan and seek multilateral dialogue and cooperation with China, Russia and the European Union, Roh said.
“North Korea must come to dialogue. Nuclear development would be of no benefit to North Korea,” Roh said.
The president said he was due to meet US President George Bush in Washington next month to discuss ways of resolving the nuclear issue peacefully.
The first UN Security Council talks on the crisis ended in deadlock Wednesday, with Russia and China blocking attempts by other permanent members Britain, France and the United States to condemn North Korea’s suspected weapons drive which could pave the way for UN sanctions.
Pyongyang has warned that it would view any imposition of UN sanctions as an outright “declaration of war”.—AFP
