ID :
80233
Wed, 09/16/2009 - 16:14
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/80233
The shortlink copeid
N. Korea must give up nukes for better ties with Japan, U.S.: Seoul minister
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korea supports North Korea seeking better relations with the United States and Japan, but the communist state will not be rewarded with progress if it keeps nuclear weapons, Seoul's unification minister said Wednesday.
"Our government hopes for North Korea to normalize relations with the United
States and Japan and pursue economic cooperation," Hyun In-taek said in a seminar
with journalists in Seoul.
"North Korea needs those things," he said. "However, the North cannot achieve
them by skirting inter-Korean relations or without denuclearization."
Pyongyang has invited Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special representative for North
Korea policy, for one-on-one talks. Washington has said it is yet to decide
whether to send him, but the conclusion is widely expected to be positive.
In Japan, a new center-left government of Yukio Hatoyama took power on Wednesday,
ending six decades of conservative rule and making room for improved ties with
Pyongyang. In an interview with Japan's Kyodo News last week, Kim Yong-nam, the
North's nominal No. 2 leader, said the country seeks "fruitful relations" with
the neighboring country and urged Tokyo to settle issues of the 1910-45 colonial
occupation of the Korean Peninsula.
Japan provided government aid to South Korea as de facto compensation for its
colonial rule when they established diplomatic relations in 1965. No such
settlements were reached with the North.
Hyun acknowledged North Korea's approach is different from last year but
questioned its intentions.
"North Korea is rewinding inter-Korean relations to how they were a year and a
half ago," he said.
"Toward the U.S., it is demanding dialogue. The North appears to be seeking
improved relations with Japan's new government as well. Still, North Korea has
not shown, at least as of now, any fundamental change in its attitude," he said.
Concerning expected Pyongyang-Washington talks, the minister said any bilateral
approach should be within the six-party framework aimed at ending North Korea's
nuclear drive. The multilateral forum involves the two Koreas, the U.S., China,
Japan and Russia.
Last month, North Korea released detained South Korean and U.S. citizens, set up
reunions for families separated by the Korean War and lifted business
restrictions for South Korean firms operating in the communist state.
In a contradictory signal, however, Pyongyang warned last week that its uranium
enrichment program, an alternative route to building nuclear bombs, has entered
its final stage, and that plutonium it has extracted from spent fuel rods was
"being weaponized."
President Lee Myung-bak said in an interview Tuesday that North Korea "is still
not showing any sincerity or signs that it will give up its nuclear ambitions."
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korea supports North Korea seeking better relations with the United States and Japan, but the communist state will not be rewarded with progress if it keeps nuclear weapons, Seoul's unification minister said Wednesday.
"Our government hopes for North Korea to normalize relations with the United
States and Japan and pursue economic cooperation," Hyun In-taek said in a seminar
with journalists in Seoul.
"North Korea needs those things," he said. "However, the North cannot achieve
them by skirting inter-Korean relations or without denuclearization."
Pyongyang has invited Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special representative for North
Korea policy, for one-on-one talks. Washington has said it is yet to decide
whether to send him, but the conclusion is widely expected to be positive.
In Japan, a new center-left government of Yukio Hatoyama took power on Wednesday,
ending six decades of conservative rule and making room for improved ties with
Pyongyang. In an interview with Japan's Kyodo News last week, Kim Yong-nam, the
North's nominal No. 2 leader, said the country seeks "fruitful relations" with
the neighboring country and urged Tokyo to settle issues of the 1910-45 colonial
occupation of the Korean Peninsula.
Japan provided government aid to South Korea as de facto compensation for its
colonial rule when they established diplomatic relations in 1965. No such
settlements were reached with the North.
Hyun acknowledged North Korea's approach is different from last year but
questioned its intentions.
"North Korea is rewinding inter-Korean relations to how they were a year and a
half ago," he said.
"Toward the U.S., it is demanding dialogue. The North appears to be seeking
improved relations with Japan's new government as well. Still, North Korea has
not shown, at least as of now, any fundamental change in its attitude," he said.
Concerning expected Pyongyang-Washington talks, the minister said any bilateral
approach should be within the six-party framework aimed at ending North Korea's
nuclear drive. The multilateral forum involves the two Koreas, the U.S., China,
Japan and Russia.
Last month, North Korea released detained South Korean and U.S. citizens, set up
reunions for families separated by the Korean War and lifted business
restrictions for South Korean firms operating in the communist state.
In a contradictory signal, however, Pyongyang warned last week that its uranium
enrichment program, an alternative route to building nuclear bombs, has entered
its final stage, and that plutonium it has extracted from spent fuel rods was
"being weaponized."
President Lee Myung-bak said in an interview Tuesday that North Korea "is still
not showing any sincerity or signs that it will give up its nuclear ambitions."
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
