Six-party members agree N. Korea must surrender nukes: official

INCHEON, Feb. 22 (Yonhap) -- A nuclear-free Korean Peninsula is key to peace and stability in North East Asia, on which all regional players involved in nuclear disarmament talks reached full agreement, a South Korean official said Sunday.

Huh Chul, a director-general at the Foreign Ministry, represented South Korea at
a mini-six-party meeting held in Moscow last week to discuss a durable peace
mechanism in North East Asia.
The other countries involved in the talks are North Korea, the U.S., China, Japan
and Russia.
The two-day Moscow forum on Thursday and Friday was sponsored by one of four
working committees formed under the control of six-party talks created in 2003 to
persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program.
At the Moscow forum, the U.S., joined by South Korea and Japan, stressed the need
for North Korea to denuclearize as a pre-condition for a sustainable peace
mechanism in Northeast Asia, Huh said.
North Korea as well as China and Russia voiced no objection to the call, the
South Korean official said, disclosing that current inter-Korean tension was not
an issue.
"The North also refrained from making overt criticism of Seoul's current North
Korean policies, which could have made the talks difficult," said Huh who heads
the ministry's Korea Peninsula Peace regime office.
The main six-party talks have been stalled since late last year because of North
Korea's objection to a U.S.-proposed verification regime on its past nuclear
activities.
Huh voiced cautious optimism that if any progress is made at committee-level
discussions, it may provide fresh momentum to the stalled main six-party forum.
He expressed hope that his committee may re-convene as early as possible to
capitalize on gains made in the latest round.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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