Pyongyang must be willing to abandon nuclear arms before deal: official

By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, Nov. 18 (Yonhap) -- North Korea must be ready to completely give up its
nuclear ambitions before talking of rewards under Seoul's "grand bargain" that
seeks to denuclearize the North in a single step, a senior South Korean official
said Wednesday.
Kim Tae-hyo, secretary to President Lee Myung-bak for national security strategy,
said the countries involved in six-way nuclear negotiations will no longer commit
to any deals that would only partially disable or dismantle the North's nuclear
programs.
"North Korea must at least be ready to dismantle its nuclear programs if it wants
to come to the negotiating table for discussions on the grand bargain," Kim said
on a news program aired by local cable news channel YTN.
"Coming to the negotiating table to discuss what it can get from the
international community while hiding key elements of its nuclear programs will
simply not be enough," he added.
The remarks come amid hopes Pyongyang will soon return to the six-nation nuclear
negotiations following its anticipated bilateral dialogue with Washington. South
and North Korea, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan are parties to the talks.
Kim's comments apparently reflect the frustration of the international community
at the recurring pattern of Pyongyang reneging on agreements and demanding more
incentives for returning to negotiations.
Pyongyang disabled the key elements of its plutonium program up until late last
year under a six-way accord signed in 2007, but has since restored most of the
facilities and announced earlier this month that it has completed extracting
plutonium, a core ingredient for making atomic bombs, from spent fuel rods.
The communist nation also provoked an armed clash with South Korea's naval forces
last week in the Yellow Sea, just days before U.S. President Barack Obama was to
visit Seoul.
"A serious message to the North will likely emerge from the upcoming summit
(between Lee and Obama)," the presidential aide said.
Lee and Obama hold summit talks Thursday.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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