Seoul urges Pyongyang to agree to nuclear verification

By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, Jan. 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korea rejected as "distorted" Thursday a North
Korean demand to adopt a mutually verifiable deal to confirm the possession or
presence of nuclear weapons in each other's territory.
North Korea, under increasing pressure from regional powers to agree to a
verification regime on its nuclear declaration, insisted Tuesday that the same
rule should be applied to U.S. troops stationed in South Korea.
South Korea rejected the North's demand as "distorted."
"North Korea is demanding a verification procedure to check the entry,
deployment, and the withdrawal of U.S. nuclear weapons, which do not exist in
South Korea," South Korea's foreign ministry said in a one-page response. "It
distorts the fundamental fact of the situation."
The ministry called on North Korea to first comply with verifiable ways to
confirm the veracity of its recent nuclear declaration, saying that the
slow-moving six-way nuclear disarmament talks are at a critical juncture.
"Most of all, verification to confirm the correctness and completeness of North
Korea's nuclear declaration is urgently needed," it said.
On Tuesday, North Korea renewed its demand for mutual nuclear disarmament of the
two Koreas, claiming that the U.S. military in South Korea has nuclear weapons.
"The denuclearization of the whole Korean Peninsula should be strictly realized
in a verifiable manner," the North's foreign ministry said in a statement,
arguing that the nuclear issue on the peninsula is attributable to Washington's
hostility toward it.
About 28,500 U.S. troops are currently stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the
1950-53 Korean War.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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