(3rd LD) N. Korea unwilling to rejoin nuclear talks, sanctions counterproductive: Russian FM

(ATTN: COMBINES previous stories; UPDATES throughout with S. Korean minister's
comments, other details; CHANGES headline)
By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, April 24 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has no intention to rejoin the six-way
talks on its nuclear program, but related nations should continue efforts to
persuade Pyongyang to come back to the negotiating table, the visiting Russian
foreign minister said Friday.
"The situation is very difficult," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a joint
press conference with his South Korean counterpart, Yu Myung-hwan, after their
meeting. "But related nations need to resolve this matter calmly, not
emotionally. The top priority is to restart the six-way talks."
"North Korea has no intention to return to the six-way talks for now," the
foreign minister said through a translator. "We need to create conditions for
the resumption of the six-way talks. We delivered our position on how to make
such conditions to North Korea."
Lavrov said imposing sanctions on North Korea is "not constructive" at a time
when all involved countries should implement their obligations under a landmark
aid-for-denuclearization deal signed in 2005.
He arrived in Seoul earlier in the day after a two-day trip to Pyongyang on a
mission to help revive the stalled disarmament talks involving the two Koreas,
the U.S., China, Russia and Japan.
The minister was the first high-level foreign official to visit North Korea since
its April 5 rocket launch and the U.N. Security Council's condemnation of it. The
North claimed the launch was aimed at sending a communications satellite into
orbit, but the U.S. and its allies believe it was part of a long-range missile
test.
In his meetings with North Korea's No. 2 leader Kim Yong-nam and its foreign
minister Pak Ui-chun, Lavrov said he proposed that North Korea use its territory
for a satellite launch in line with Moscow's policy of cooperating with other
nations on peaceful space programs. Watchers doubted that North Korea will accept
the proposal.
He confirmed he did not meet the North's top leader, Kim Jong-il.
It is unusual for a visiting Russian foreign minister to skip a meeting with Kim.
Lavrov met him when he traveled to Pyongyang in 2004. It was still unclear why
Kim did not meet Lavrov, but some speculated North Korea rejected the minister's
request for a meeting because it was displeased by Moscow's approval of the
Security Council's statement.
Adding fuel to regional tension, the North announced last week that it will never
return to six-party negotiations and will switch its nearly disabled nuclear
facilities in Yongbyon back on to protest the U.N. move.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said he and Lavrov shared concern
over the North's action and reaffirmed that the six-way talks are a useful
framework for denuclearization.
"The two sides agreed to cooperate closely to get North Korea to return to the
six-way talks and move forward discussions on denuclearization," Yu said.
Lavrov's trip to the two Koreas came amid the U.N.'s drive 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 demands that a sanctions
committee 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 reduced drastically, according to U.N. sources.
Lavrov plans to pay a courtesy call on President Lee Myung-bak on Saturday before
his departure.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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