(LEAD) Two Koreas cannot coexist without denuclearization: foreign minister

(LEAD) Two Koreas cannot coexist without denuclearization: foreign minister
(ATTN: UPDATES with more comments in paras 4-6, background at bottom)
By Tony Chang
SEOUL, Sept. 18 (Yonhap) -- South and North Korea cannot coexist or maintain a
"win-win" relationship unless the North abandons its nuclear program, Seoul's top
diplomat said Friday.

"The government cannot tolerate North Korea developing nuclear weapons. This is
our firm stance, and this (denuclearization) must be fulfilled in order for the
two Koreas to coexist and maintain a win-win relationship," Foreign Minister Yu
Myung-hwan said at a breakfast meeting with business leaders.
The minister's remarks follow a series of conciliatory gestures by Pyongyang
towards the South and the United States that many observers believe are the
result of international sanctions imposed on the North shortly after its second
atomic test in May.
Yu warned it is "naive" to believe North Korea will not use its nuclear weapons
on South Korea, saying the weapons are aimed at the South.
"It is North Korea's goal to unify the country through communization, and the
nuclear weapons were developed for that purpose," he said.
"It would be naive to doubt that North Korea would use its nuclear weapons on the
South and treat the nuclear stalemate as a matter between the U.S. and the North.
The nuclear weapons are aimed at the South."
The nuclear issue is the core issue obstructing the two Koreas' relationship from
moving forward, the minister said, underlining that it is difficult for Seoul to
"cooperate and coexist with a nuclear-armed North Korea."
"I believe North Korea has reached a critical point where it must make the right
decision. As the president has repeated many times, (we) are prepared to actively
help the North when it shows sincere signs of nuclear disarmament," Yu said.
The South Korean government suspended direct food and fertilizer aid to North
Korea last year, following the inauguration of conservative President Lee
Myung-bak who linked inter-Korean aid and exchanges to progress in North Korea's
denuclearization.
The minister also highlighted the six-party talks as the "most effective" tool in
dismantling Pyongyang's nuclear program and said that a pending bilateral meeting
between the U.S. and the North is intended to lure the North to the six-party
talks.
The U.S. said last week it is considering bilateral negotiations with North Korea
to persuade it to return to the talks. Pyongyang has boycotted the mulilateral
discussions, claiming the forum has been used to infringe upon its sovereign
right to develop nuclear and space technology.
odissy@yna.co.kr
(END)