S. Korea, U.S. question N. Korean intentions

SEOUL, Nov. 13 (Yonhap) -- The United States is attempting to ascertain
intentions behind North Korea's public denial of nuclear verification measures
Washington has said Pyongyang agreed to, South Korean Foreign Minister Yu
Myung-hwan said Thursday.

Yu said South Korea's top nuclear envoy Kim Sook and his American counterpart
Christopher Hill had telephone conversations earlier in the day to discuss
Pyongyang's latest statement claiming it had never agreed to allow sample taking
by inspectors and access to undeclared sites.
The North's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday in the statement that allowing
sampling was not part of an October agreement on verification procedures reached
with Washington. The ministry described the U.S. demand for sample-taking as a
breach of sovereignty, warning it will "certainly bring about a war."
Pyongyang's position contravenes Washington's claim that the North agreed
verbally to a set of scientific verification measures, including sampling, during
Hill's trip to Pyongyang last month.
Sung Kim, the U.S. special envoy on the nuclear talks, had separate meetings in
New York last week with Ri Gun, director general of the North Korean Foreign
Ministry's American bureau, to clarify the October agreement.
The minister noted that the North issued the statement before Ri's return to
Pyongyang.
"There is a need to analyze why North Korea issued such a statement before Ri's
return," Yu said.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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