N. Korea eyeing nuclear state status in negotiations with U.S.: expert

By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Feb. 18 (Yonhap) -- North Korea will try to establish itself as a nuclear
weapons state by offering to give up future nuclear arms development, a strategy
tailored to the new U.S. administration focused on non-proliferation, a Seoul
expert said Wednesday.
North Korea, which conducted its first nuclear test in 2006, has been dismantling
its Yongbyon nuclear complex, north of Pyongyang, under an
aid-for-denuclearization accord reached with the U.S., South Korea, China, Japan
and Russia in 2007.
The six-party negotiations are now on hold, with the new Barack Obama
administration yet to roll out its policy on Pyongyang.
Cho Min, an analyst with the Korea Institute for National Unification, a
Seoul-based state-run think tank, said North Korea has demonstrated its
willingness to give up "future nuclear weapons" by starting to disable the
Yongbyon complex, but has deliberately left unclear its position on several
atomic weapons it is believed to have already developed.
"North Korea is trying to get tacit recognition of its claimed nuclear status
from the U.S. by giving up its 'future nuclear weapons,'" Cho said in a Seoul
forum titled "Directions to Resolve the North Korean Nuclear Issue and Prospects
for Changes in North Korea."
"On condition that it will observe 'non-proliferation,' which is the biggest
concern of the new U.S. government, it will try to be recognized as a nuclear
weapons state," he said.
In a message apparently intended for Obama, North Korea's Foreign Ministry said
on Jan. 17 that it will retain its nuclear weapons even after relations with
Washington are normalized. Pyongyang demanded the U.S. remove what it described
as nuclear threats against it, referring to U.S. military forces stationed in
South Korea which provide a nuclear umbrella for Seoul.
"We can live without normalized relations with the United States but can't live
without nuclear deterrence. That is the reality of Korea today," a spokesman for
the North's ministry said. "Even if the DPRK-U.S. normalization of relations is
achieved, our status as a nuclear weapons state will never founder as long as the
U.S. nuclear threat remains even a bit."
DPRK stands for Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.
About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in the South as a deterrent against
Pyongyang's aggression, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War. South Korea and the
U.S. hold a joint annual war exercise next month.
If Washington gives priority to non-proliferation over denuclearization, Cho
suggested, the nuclear talks will gain speed, regional tension will ease and the
U.S. will achieve its priority diplomatic goal.
"If the 'non-proliferation before denuclearization' scenario materializes," Cho
said, "North Korea-U.S. negotiations will pick up speed. The U.S. can demonstrate
its global leadership by engaging North Korea, and the North should then grasp
the opportunity to attain security guarantees for its regime and the recovery of
its economy."
hkim@yna.co.kr
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