(LEAD) S. Korea will not improve ties with nuclear-armed N. Korea: FM

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with more comments, details)
By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, Oct. 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan dismissed
the possibility of an imminent inter-Korean summit Monday, saying it is still
unclear whether North Korea is sincere about its commitment to denuclearize.

The minister also said the United Nations may discuss how to handle the North's
purported uranium enrichment program while enforcing sanctions against the
isolated state for its test of an atomic bomb earlier this year.
In spite of recent conciliatory gestures, "There is no real ground as yet to view
the North's softening stance as an indication of a fundamental change in its
position on the nuclear issue," Yu said at a seminar with foreign reporters here.
In the past several months Pyongyang has released detained South Korean and
American citizens and allowed temporary reunions for family members living on
opposite sides of the inter-Korean border.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il also reportedly told Chinese Premier Wen Jiabo,
who visited Pyongyang early this month, that his government is willing to rejoin
both bilateral and multilateral nuclear talks -- including the six-way forum with
the U.S., South Korea, China, Russia, and Japan.
Those steps, however, have been tempered by North Korea's short-range missile
tests and the opening of a dam that caused a deadly flash flood in South Korea,
which the North later said was an accident.
Yu refused to specifically address news reports that the North has proposed a
summit with President Lee Myung-bak.
In a background briefing for reporters in Washington, a senior Pentagon official
said North Korea is seeking another inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang, in what
would be the first since 2007. His comments were dismissed by Seoul and by the
White House as a "misunderstanding."
"As foreign minister, I am not in a position to elaborate on the issue," Yu said.
"But I would like to say again that the South Korean president is ready to meet
(the North's leader) anytime and anywhere for discussions on progress in
South-North relations and the nuclear issue."
The South Korean presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said earlier that there had
been no formal summit proposal from Pyongyang, but added there is an
understanding between South Korea and the U.S. that one could be held if
necessary for substantial progress in denuclearization and inter-Korean
relations.
The foreign minister called on the North to first return to the six-party talks
and "demonstrate that it really has taken a strategic decision for
denuclearization."
"North Korea's sincere response with respect to the dialogue on North Korean
denuclearization will be a decisive factor in demonstrating its sincere intention
to achieve advances in inter-Korean relations," he said.
Saying that it would be "difficult" to co-exist with a nuclear-armed North Korea,
Yu added that South Korea's North Korea policy must be focused on
denuclearization.
The Seoul foreign minister also said the U.N. may take action against North
Korea's purported uranium enrichment program.
In a letter last month to the U.N. Security Council, the North said it was close
to completing the technology for uranium enrichment, an alternative to its
plutonium-based nuclear weapons program.
"It is very worrisome that North Korea has confirmed through the letter that it
has tried a uranium enrichment program and succeeded to some extent," the
minister said. "I think the issue will be discussed separately at the U.N."
lcd@yna.co.kr
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