Foreign minister warns N. Korea not to worsen situation

(ATTN: UPDATES with revelation of Obama's aborted plan to send letter to N. Korean
leader, expert's comments in last 7 paras)
By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, April 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's foreign minister urged North Korea
Thursday to stop raising tension and rejoin the six-way talks on its nuclear
program as his Russian counterpart began a two-day trip to Pyongyang, during
which he is expected to deliver a similar message to the defiant North.
Yu Myung-hwan also hinted that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov may try to
persuade the North to release a South Korean worker detained there for more than
three weeks.
"I can't help expressing serious concern that North Korea is rejecting the
international community's agreement and further damaging all the accomplishments
in the six-way talks," Yu said during his monthly press briefing.
His comments were in reference to a series of moves by Pyongyang to protest the
U.N. Security Council's condemnation of its April 5 rocket launch.
The North announced last week it would "never" return to the six-way talks also
involving the U.S., China, and Japan. It also expelled U.N. and U.S. monitors
from its main nuclear site in Yongbyon and warned it would bring the nearly
disabled facilities back into operation.
The U.N. council's 15 member states, meanwhile, are working on a list of North
Korean goods and entities to face sanctions as a follow-up to its earlier
presidential statement.
A related committee is supposed to finalize the list by April 24. About a dozen
North Korean companies engaged in the trade of weapons of mass destruction and
related materials are expected to be subject to the measure.
Some media outlets have raised the possibility that the North could conduct a
second nuclear test.
"North Korea should not exacerbate the situation any more, abide by the U.N.
Security Council statement and push for denuclearization," the minister said,
adding if the North reactivates its plutonium reprocessing factory, the U.N. will
seek additional punishment.
He said the Russian minister, who arrived in Pyongyang earlier in the day, is
expected to deliver such a message to the North. Lavrov is the first high-level
foreign official to visit the reclusive nation since its rocket launch.
Lavrov is scheduled to hold talks with his counterpart, Pak Ui-chun, and the
North's No. 2 leader, Kim Yong-nam, according to the Russian government. It is
unclear whether he will meet leader Kim Jong-il.
If Kim does not meet the minister, watchers say, it could be seen as an
expression of Kim's discontent over Moscow's endorsement of the U.N. document
against the North's rocket launch. Lavrov also plans to visit Seoul on Friday and
Saturday for talks with South Korea's top diplomat.
"We have closely consulted with the Russian government since North Korea's firing
of a long-range rocket," Yu said, responding to a question on whether Seoul asked
the Russian minister to deliver a particular message. "As Russia is an important
partner in the six-way talks, close consultations are underway between the two
sides on the North Korean nuclear program and other related issues."
Yu added South Korea and Russia have also discussed the issue of the detained
South Korean worker, suggesting Lavrov may raise the subject in Pyongyang.
The employee of Hyundai Asan Corp., which operates the troubled Kaesong
industrial park, is accused by North Korea of criticizing the North's political
system and encouraging a North Korean female worker to defect to the capitalist
South.
In a rare inter-Korean government meeting on Tuesday, North Korea refused to talk
about the detention issue, only churning out demands for wage hikes for North
Korean workers at South Korean firms in Kaesong and a shortened grace period for
land use fees.
In Washington, meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reaffirmed that the
U.S. is ready to talk with the North.
"We have made it clear that we are prepared to resume the six-party talks," she
told a congressional committee Wednesday. "I think we have to be strong, patient,
persistent."
Experts said the U.S. is likely to wait for North Korea to change its attitude
for the time being.
"The U.S. is sending a message to North Korea that if you accept our sincere
efforts and express willingness for cooperation like Iran and Cuba, we will have
talks, regardless of format," Korea University professor Kim Sung-han said.
Three months into his term, Obama has offered an olive branch to Iran, Russia,
Cuba, and Venezuela, all of which reportedly responded in a positive manner. But
North Korea remains left out.
An informed source here said Obama also tried to make overtures to Pyongyang.
During his regional tour last month, Stephen Bosworth, the U.S. special
representative for North Korea policy, carried the president's secret letter of
conciliation for the communist nation's leader Kim Jong-il, but he had no chance
to deliver it, according to the source who asked not to be named. Bosworth hoped
to travel to Pyongyang at that time, but the North rejected his offer of a trip.
"North Korea is the first country to which President Obama sought to reach out.
But the North is still holding its fist tight, refusing to give a handshake," the
source said.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)