(LEAD) S. Korea skeptical of N. Korean proposal for peace treaty

(ATTN: UPDATES with remarks from a ministry official close to six-party nuclear
talks, more details, minor changes)

SEOUL, Jan. 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korea is thoroughly reviewing North Korea's
proposal for talks on replacing the Korean War armistice with a peace treaty to
ascertain Pyongyang's true intentions, as it is wary of the possibility that the
North may be trying to undermine negotiations on ending its nuclear ambitions, an
official said Monday.
"We cannot say it is all good news because what they proposed is somewhat
different from our position on such talks," an official at South Korea's foreign
ministry said.
The remarks came shortly after North Korea proposed that such talks be held
either within the six-party framework on ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions
or in a separate forum.
In a six-party accord signed in 2005, North Korea agreed to hold separate talks
with those directly involved in the 1950-53 Korean War -- South Korea, the U.S.
and China -- to replace the cease-fire with a permanent peace agreement.
Seoul's Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan noted in a recent interview with Yonhap
News Agency that Pyongyang may try to bring the issue into the six-party dialogue
in an attempt to delay negotiations on ending its nuclear ambitions.
A ministry official close to the nuclear talks said the North's proposal, carried
Monday by its state-run Korean Central News Agency, may well be part of such an
attempt to disrupt the negotiations.
"We cannot rule out the possibility that that is what North Korea really is
trying to do. I believe there is nothing very positive in the North's statement,
though we still have to look deeper into the negative elements," the official
told reporters.
The official said South Korea will continue to oppose launching discussions for a
peace treaty until the nuclear negotiations show significant progress.
"What we have said before is that we can start discussing a peace regime when
there is strong momentum for progress in the denuclearization of North Korea," he
said.
Ministry officials noted any effort to bring the issue into the nuclear talks may
be an attempt to delay progress, saying the six parties of the nuclear
negotiations agreed to a separate forum for peace treaty talks.
They noted that North Korea may have mentioned holding the peace talks in a
separate forum to avoid accusations from other six-party talk participants of
trying to breach previous agreements, if not to manipulate the nuclear
negotiations themselves.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)