ID :
82015
Mon, 09/28/2009 - 00:04
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/82015
The shortlink copeid
Light-water reactors not part of grand bargain for N. Korea: Seoul
INCHEON, Sept 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea ruled out the construction of
light-water reactors Sunday as part of a "grand bargain" President Lee Myung-bak
recently proposed to press North Korea to drop its nuclear arms programs.
The United States stopped building two light-water reactors in North Korea in
2002 after suspicions arose that the communist state was running a secret nuclear
program based on uranium enrichment.
The halt led North Korea to exit the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) the following
year. The reactors would have provided an alternative source of energy for the
impoverished North while being incapable of producing weapons-grade plutonium.
Wi Sung-lack, South Korea's chief nuclear envoy, told Yonhap News Agency that the
construction would not resume at least until Pyongyang denuclearizes itself and
returns to the NPT.
"Construction of light-water reactors is an issue that can be discussed once the
North is denuclearized and returns to the NPT regime," he said at an airport in
Incheon, west of Seoul.
Wi was returning from a weeklong trip to the U.S. where he met with senior
officials of the U.S., Japan and Russia, which are members of the six-nation
talks on the North's nuclear programs.
The talks -- which the North declared defunct earlier this year in protest at
U.N. condemnation of its rocket launch -- also include South Korea and host
China.
South Korea's President Lee on Sept. 21 urged North Korea to return to the talks,
proposing a "grand bargain" in which Pyongyang would be given a set of economic
and political incentives if it completely abandoned its nuclear programs.
"The reactors the North demanded in the past are not part of the grand bargain,"
Wi said.
The six-party talks began in 2003 to replace the bilateral nuclear agreement
between the U.S. and North Korea. The talks produced a deal in 2005 for the
North's denuclearization in exchange for energy and economic aid, normalization
of ties, and establishment of a permanent peace regime to replace the armistice
that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.
Despite the progress in talks, North Korea conducted its first nuclear test in
October 2006 and its second in May this year.
(END)
light-water reactors Sunday as part of a "grand bargain" President Lee Myung-bak
recently proposed to press North Korea to drop its nuclear arms programs.
The United States stopped building two light-water reactors in North Korea in
2002 after suspicions arose that the communist state was running a secret nuclear
program based on uranium enrichment.
The halt led North Korea to exit the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) the following
year. The reactors would have provided an alternative source of energy for the
impoverished North while being incapable of producing weapons-grade plutonium.
Wi Sung-lack, South Korea's chief nuclear envoy, told Yonhap News Agency that the
construction would not resume at least until Pyongyang denuclearizes itself and
returns to the NPT.
"Construction of light-water reactors is an issue that can be discussed once the
North is denuclearized and returns to the NPT regime," he said at an airport in
Incheon, west of Seoul.
Wi was returning from a weeklong trip to the U.S. where he met with senior
officials of the U.S., Japan and Russia, which are members of the six-nation
talks on the North's nuclear programs.
The talks -- which the North declared defunct earlier this year in protest at
U.N. condemnation of its rocket launch -- also include South Korea and host
China.
South Korea's President Lee on Sept. 21 urged North Korea to return to the talks,
proposing a "grand bargain" in which Pyongyang would be given a set of economic
and political incentives if it completely abandoned its nuclear programs.
"The reactors the North demanded in the past are not part of the grand bargain,"
Wi said.
The six-party talks began in 2003 to replace the bilateral nuclear agreement
between the U.S. and North Korea. The talks produced a deal in 2005 for the
North's denuclearization in exchange for energy and economic aid, normalization
of ties, and establishment of a permanent peace regime to replace the armistice
that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.
Despite the progress in talks, North Korea conducted its first nuclear test in
October 2006 and its second in May this year.
(END)
