ID :
104277
Wed, 02/03/2010 - 09:52
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/104277
The shortlink copeid
S. Korea wants summit with N. Korea but denuclearization is key topic: minister
SEOUL, Feb. 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea wants a summit with North Korea but only if the communist state agrees to discuss its nuclear arms programs "very concretely" and offers to resolve inter-Korean humanitarian issues, the Unification Minister said Wednesday.
"We actually want a summit, but (the problem is) on what conditions and in what
circumstances: that's very crucial for the moment," Hyun In-taek told a group of
foreign diplomats at a breakfast meeting in Seoul.
"In order to have a summit, we think that we should very concretely discuss the
North Korean denuclearization issue," he said.
Hyun, who argued that a number of South Korean prisoners from the 1950-53 Korean
War remain alive in North Korea, said the issue must be treated if the sides were
to hold their third-ever summit.
"We have our own humanitarian issues or problems. We have many POW's in North
Korea," he said. "Now, it's time for them to show their humanitarian
cooperation."
"Both sides should and can talk about these very, very important issues" if they
hold a summit meeting, he said, adding, "nothing has been decided."
Calling the North Korean nuclear arms ambitions "the real issue," Hyun said the
North Korean proposal for talks aimed at formally ending the Korean War can only
be discussed after the communist country rejoins six-party talks on its
denuclearization.
North Korea has shown willingness to return to the talks that also include the
U.S., South Korea, China, Japan and Russia but demands that negotiations for a
peace treaty also be launched.
"The sequence is very, very important. Which comes first is very, very
important," Hyun said. "We're asking North Korea to come to the six-party talks
table first and discuss the denuclearization of North Korea."
"A peace treaty should and can be discussed in a different forum beyond the
six-party talks," he said.
The Korean War ended in a truce, leaving the Korean peninsula technically still
at war. Pyongyang says the truce underscores what it calls U.S. hostilities
against it and has also demanded that U.S.-led U.N. sanctions be lifted before it
returns to the six-nation talks.
Hyun said South Korea and China are working "especially" closely to prod North
Korea toward the six-party talks with high-ranking officials visiting each side's
capital, but he did not elaborate.
"Especially between China and South Korea, we have a very close consultation," he
said
Asked how South Korea would deal with North Korean nuclear scientists if the
divided states are reunified, Hyun said the issue will be examined if progress is
made in the longstanding objective.
"I don't have the right answer for that. We'll look at that issue if we're
approaching reunification," he said.
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
"We actually want a summit, but (the problem is) on what conditions and in what
circumstances: that's very crucial for the moment," Hyun In-taek told a group of
foreign diplomats at a breakfast meeting in Seoul.
"In order to have a summit, we think that we should very concretely discuss the
North Korean denuclearization issue," he said.
Hyun, who argued that a number of South Korean prisoners from the 1950-53 Korean
War remain alive in North Korea, said the issue must be treated if the sides were
to hold their third-ever summit.
"We have our own humanitarian issues or problems. We have many POW's in North
Korea," he said. "Now, it's time for them to show their humanitarian
cooperation."
"Both sides should and can talk about these very, very important issues" if they
hold a summit meeting, he said, adding, "nothing has been decided."
Calling the North Korean nuclear arms ambitions "the real issue," Hyun said the
North Korean proposal for talks aimed at formally ending the Korean War can only
be discussed after the communist country rejoins six-party talks on its
denuclearization.
North Korea has shown willingness to return to the talks that also include the
U.S., South Korea, China, Japan and Russia but demands that negotiations for a
peace treaty also be launched.
"The sequence is very, very important. Which comes first is very, very
important," Hyun said. "We're asking North Korea to come to the six-party talks
table first and discuss the denuclearization of North Korea."
"A peace treaty should and can be discussed in a different forum beyond the
six-party talks," he said.
The Korean War ended in a truce, leaving the Korean peninsula technically still
at war. Pyongyang says the truce underscores what it calls U.S. hostilities
against it and has also demanded that U.S.-led U.N. sanctions be lifted before it
returns to the six-nation talks.
Hyun said South Korea and China are working "especially" closely to prod North
Korea toward the six-party talks with high-ranking officials visiting each side's
capital, but he did not elaborate.
"Especially between China and South Korea, we have a very close consultation," he
said
Asked how South Korea would deal with North Korean nuclear scientists if the
divided states are reunified, Hyun said the issue will be examined if progress is
made in the longstanding objective.
"I don't have the right answer for that. We'll look at that issue if we're
approaching reunification," he said.
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
