A rchive Date
[ 19-09-2005 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ North Korea ]
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[http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2005/09/16/1220540-ap.html
N. Korea says it won't dismantle nuclear weapons without light-water reactors
September 19, 2005
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea said Tuesday it would not dismantle its nuclear weapons program until the United States first gives it a nuclear reactor for generating power, casting doubt on its commitment to a breakthrough agreement reached at international arms talks.
The North had insisted since arms talks began last week in Beijing that it be given a light-water reactor, a type less easily diverted for weapons use, in exchange for abandoning nuclear weapons. The agreement reached at the talks' end Monday - the first since the negotiations began in August 2003 - says the six countries in the negotiations will discuss the reactor issue "at an appropriate time."
But the North said Tuesday it wants a reactor first.
"The U.S. should not even dream of the issue of (North Korea's) dismantlement of its nuclear deterrent before providing (light-water reactors), a physical guarantee for confidence-building," the North's Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
"This is our just and consistent stand as solid as a deeply rooted rock," the ministry said.
Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said Tuesday the North's reactor demand was "unacceptable," Kyodo News agency reported.
Other countries at the talks made clear that the reactor could only be discussed after the North rejoins the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and accepts inspections from the International Atomic Energy Agency - which North Korea pledged to do in Monday's agreement.
U.S. State Department spokesman Adam Ereli emphasized earlier in Washington that the "appropriate time" for discussing the reactor means only after the North comes in compliance with those conditions.
"It's a theoretical proposition in the future, contingent on dismantling having taken place, re-signing up to the NPT and having IAEA safeguards in place," he said Monday in Washington.
U.S. officials had remained cautious after Monday's agreement.
"We have to see what comes in the days and weeks ahead," said Christopher Hill, chief U.S. envoy at the talks after the agreement was reached.
President George W. Bush called the agreement a positive step, but he expressed some skepticism at the time about whether North Korea would live up to its promises.
"They have said - in principle - that they will abandon their weapons programs," Bush said before hearing of North Korea's demands for a light-water reactor.
"And what we have said is, 'Great. That's a wonderful step forward.' But now we've got to verify whether that happens."
"The question is, over time will all parties adhere to the agreement," Bush said.
North Korea's current position is likely to be a major sticking point in talks slated to begin in November on implementing Monday's agreement.
The North had demanded during the six-nation talks in Beijing that it be allowed to keep a civilian nuclear program for power generation after it disarms.
But the United States strongly opposed the demand, and Monday's agreement only acknowledged that the North had "stated" its claim to that right.
The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush has opposed anything resembling a 1994 U.S.-North Korea agreement, which promised the North two light-water reactors for power.
That project stalled amid the current crisis over the North's resumed nuclear weapons program.
United Nations inspectors said at the time of the deal they were anxious to get back inside the country.
"The earlier we go back the better," said Mohamed Elbaradei, head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, which was expelled from the North in 2003.
Envoys at the six-nation talks stressed that the North can only hope to get a reactor once it conforms to international nuclear safeguards.
The participants in the talks were China, Japan, Russia, the two Koreas and the United States. Their statement was the first breakthrough since the negotiations began in August 2003.
A joint statement issued at the Beijing talks' conclusion said the North "committed to abandoning all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs and returning at an early date" to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and IAEA safeguards.
"The six parties unanimously reaffirmed that the goal of the six-party talks is the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner," it said.
While the question of light-water reactors was put aside as part of the agreement, several forms of aid were discussed in exchange for the dismantlement, including energy aid, economic co-operation and security assurances.
Some participants said they would give energy assistance to the North, including a South Korean plan to send electricity across the heavily armed border dividing the peninsula.
At the time of the agreement, Hill said he didn't believe North Korea was trying to buy time but had made a real commitment it couldn't renege on.
"I do believe it's a turning point, it's the first time they've put down in an international agreement that they're prepared to abandon their weapons and nuclear programs," he said.
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