ID :
57212
Fri, 04/24/2009 - 08:20
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/57212
The shortlink copeid
Russian foreign minister due in Seoul after visiting Pyongyang
SEOUL, April 24 (Yonhap) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was to fly into Seoul later Friday from Pyongyang, where he sought ways to revive the deadlocked Korean nuclear disarmament negotiations.
The minister is the first high-level foreign official to visit the secretive
communist nation since its April 5 rocket launch. The North announced last week
that it will quit six-way disarmament talks and reactivate its nearly-disabled
nuclear facilities in Yongbyon to protest the U.N.'s condemnation of the launch.
South Korean officials expect Lavrov to bring a message from the North on the
future of the stalled denuclearization process and the fate of a South Korean
worker detained there for more than three weeks. The North has accused the
44-year-old employee of Hyundai Asan Corp., developer of the Kaesong industrial
town, of criticizing its political system and trying to coax a North Korean
female worker to defect to the South.
"Minister Lavrov is scheduled to arrive in Seoul in the afternoon and hold talks
with Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan in the evening," a South Korean foreign
ministry official said. The ministers will also have a join press conference
after the talks, he added. Lavrov plans to pay a courtesy call on President Lee
Myung-bak on Saturday before his departure.
In Pyongyang, the Russian minister called for North Korea to return to the
six-way talks aimed at scrapping its nuclear arsenal. The last round of the
talks, also involving the U.S., China, and Japan., were held in December but
produced no fresh agreement due to disputes over how to inspect the North's
nuclear sites.
"We don't expect any immediate breakthroughs. It's a difficult process," Lavrov
was quoted as saying by Russia's official news agency after meeting with his
North Korean counterpart Pak Ui-chun on Thursday. "We should not yield to
emotions, hopefully we will be able to overcome this crisis."
The ITAR-TASS said the minister is likely to meet the North's leader Kim Jong-il
some time on Friday. It did not provide details including the exact time and
venue.
Russia's high-profile diplomacy on its traditional ally comes after the U.N.'s
move to blacklist a set of North Korean firms suspected of being involved in the
trade of missiles and weapons of mass destruction.
The U.N. Security Council's presidential statement against the North's rocket
launch calls for a sanctions committee to draw up the list of North Korean
entities by April 24. If it fails to meet the deadline, the 15-member council
will step in to finalize the list by April 30.
The U.S. and Japan presented their own lists of about a dozen North Korean firms
to face an asset freeze, but China and Russia want the number of targeted
companies to be smaller, according to U.N. sources.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)
The minister is the first high-level foreign official to visit the secretive
communist nation since its April 5 rocket launch. The North announced last week
that it will quit six-way disarmament talks and reactivate its nearly-disabled
nuclear facilities in Yongbyon to protest the U.N.'s condemnation of the launch.
South Korean officials expect Lavrov to bring a message from the North on the
future of the stalled denuclearization process and the fate of a South Korean
worker detained there for more than three weeks. The North has accused the
44-year-old employee of Hyundai Asan Corp., developer of the Kaesong industrial
town, of criticizing its political system and trying to coax a North Korean
female worker to defect to the South.
"Minister Lavrov is scheduled to arrive in Seoul in the afternoon and hold talks
with Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan in the evening," a South Korean foreign
ministry official said. The ministers will also have a join press conference
after the talks, he added. Lavrov plans to pay a courtesy call on President Lee
Myung-bak on Saturday before his departure.
In Pyongyang, the Russian minister called for North Korea to return to the
six-way talks aimed at scrapping its nuclear arsenal. The last round of the
talks, also involving the U.S., China, and Japan., were held in December but
produced no fresh agreement due to disputes over how to inspect the North's
nuclear sites.
"We don't expect any immediate breakthroughs. It's a difficult process," Lavrov
was quoted as saying by Russia's official news agency after meeting with his
North Korean counterpart Pak Ui-chun on Thursday. "We should not yield to
emotions, hopefully we will be able to overcome this crisis."
The ITAR-TASS said the minister is likely to meet the North's leader Kim Jong-il
some time on Friday. It did not provide details including the exact time and
venue.
Russia's high-profile diplomacy on its traditional ally comes after the U.N.'s
move to blacklist a set of North Korean firms suspected of being involved in the
trade of missiles and weapons of mass destruction.
The U.N. Security Council's presidential statement against the North's rocket
launch calls for a sanctions committee to draw up the list of North Korean
entities by April 24. If it fails to meet the deadline, the 15-member council
will step in to finalize the list by April 30.
The U.S. and Japan presented their own lists of about a dozen North Korean firms
to face an asset freeze, but China and Russia want the number of targeted
companies to be smaller, according to U.N. sources.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)
