N.Korea hints at return to nuclear talks
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-05-09 21:27

SEOUL/BEIJING - China and South Korea have called on North Korea to come back to stalled talks aimed at ending its nuclear programs, while Pyongyang hinted it might be seeking a way to do just that.

President Hu Jintao and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, in Moscow to attend commemorations marking the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, called on Sunday for a peaceful resolution of the crisis through dialogue, Xinhua news agency and a South Korean official said on Monday.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, right, shakes hands with South Korean counterpart Roh Moo-hyun during their meeting in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, May 8, 2005. The two Asian leaders were in Moscow to take part in a celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany. [Xinhua]

Officials in Washington have said North Korea may be preparing for a nuclear test, while South Korea's foreign minister said last week diplomatic efforts to end the nuclear crisis had reached a "critical moment."

A North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said late on Sunday Pyongyang wanted to meet U.S. officials to confirm reports Washington was ready to recognize the North as a sovereign state and hold bilateral discussions within the parameters of the six-country talks, the official KCNA news agency reported.

"If there be any request from our side, we only expressed our intention to directly meet the U.S. side to confirm whether those reports were true before making a final determination," the spokesman said, referring to media reports on the U.S. position.

The comment appeared to soften the North's position of rejecting talks outright for now, although it still said it could not deal with the United States while it called Pyongyang an outpost of tyranny -- a label given to North Korea by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in January.

Diplomats and analysts note North Korea has in the past sought a face-saving way back to the table.

"Our will to denuclearise the Korean peninsula and seek a negotiated solution to it still remains unchanged," the spokesman was quoted as saying.

North Korean and U.S. officials have met in the past at the United Nations, using the so-called "New York channel," but it was not immediately clear it would be used now.

The six-party talks bring together host China, the two Koreas, Japan, Russia and the United States.

PONDERING THE CONDITIONS

"We have never requested the DPRK-US talks independent of the six-party talks," the spokesman said. The North has in the past said direct talks with Washington were the only way to proceed.

DPRK is short for the formal name of the country, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Japan's top government spokesman said he saw some positive signs in the North Korean statement.

"A response that is a step forward has emerged. The situation in which they proceed with nuclear development...cannot be good for North Korea," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda.

However, Lee Dong-bok, a senior associate and specialist on North Korea's negotiating behavior with the CSIS think tank, said Washington may find the conditions unacceptable. The North often tries to set conditions before discussions and then stays away from the table, arguing the conditions have not been met.

"There may be some room for negotiations on these conditions, but I don't think Washington will allow itself to be dragged into this type of pre-negotiation," Lee said by telephone from Seoul.

"If you fall into their trap and address those conditions, you are going to find North Korea acting like an eel. Every time you try to grasp it, it will slip out of your hands," he said.

Over the past few months, Pyongyang has said it could return to the table if conditions were right and Washington dropped what it says is a hostile policy toward it.

An official from South Korea's presidential Blue House said Roh and Hu agreed during a 50-minute meeting in Moscow to increase high-level diplomatic efforts to resume talks.

"The two leaders expressed deep concern over the current impasse in the six-way talks and the uncertainties the impasse has been causing," the official told reporters in Moscow, according to the Blue House statement released on Monday.

Nearly a year has passed since a third round of the six-way talks.

North Korea declared in February it had nuclear weapons and would stay away from the talks indefinitely.

The United States has said it may be considering stronger moves against North Korea, such as referring its nuclear programs to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions, if Pyongyang continues to stay away from talks.

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