[NEWS] Nuke Talks Still Have Stumbling Blocks
NK will see this as a broken promise
A high-ranking Seoul official said in Beijing, asking not to be named, that the government does not think there is any possibility of providing electricity and a light-water reactor to North Korea at the same time. Thus, the six nations have to discuss providing a new reactor to the energy-starved country.
BEIJING _ The adoption of the principle document in the six-party talks on how to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula is the ``accomplishment of South Korean diplomacy, which opened the way to end the Cold War confrontation, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said in Seoul on Monday.
His remarks are based on the idea that the joint principle statement laid the groundwork for the establishment of a permanent peace on the peninsula, even though the document apparently focused on the nuclear issue.
The United States and Japan also promised to take steps to normalize their relations with North Korea.
Washington and Tokyo will likely raise the nagging topics of the Norths poor human rights record and the ``abductee issue respectively when the time comes to address the normalization issue, but the promise itself is considered a big step forward in enhancing peace and stability in Northeast Asia.
As Chung mentioned, South Korea played a key role in the six-party process by pledging, first of all, to offer electricity to North Korea to persuade Pyongyang to come back to the denuclearization talks in July.
``I got a feeling that we now open the way for making history by ourselves, Song Min-soon, South Koreas top delegate to the six-party talks, told reporters after the official announcement of the principle document. ``In the past, we were given a situation at others will and we had to deal with it.
The 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice treaty, in which South Korea was not a signatory. The treaty was signed by North Korea, the U.S. and China.
The first step toward making peace on the Korean Peninsula may be taken when a talk between the two Koreas defense ministers is resumed at a yet-to-be determined time. The latest talk of its kind was held in September 2000. Another chance for the two sides to discuss how to build peace will be given in December when a Cabinet-level talk is scheduled to be held.
The two talks have many points of agenda to deal with, including trust-building measures such as arms reduction.
All these grand projects could be carried out only when North Korea and other related parties keep the promises they made in the joint statement of principles.
But many stumbling blocks are considered to be lying ahead, beginning with the light-water reactor issue, which sometimes put the six-party talks close to breakdown.
According to the statement, North Korea stated that it has the right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy, while the other parties expressed their respect and agreed to discuss, at an appropriate time, the subject of the provision of a light-water reactor to North Korea.
The problem comes from the fact that South Korea has already offered 2 million kilowatts of electricity to North Korea with the condition that the proposal offsets the 1994 deal, in which Pyongyang was awarded two light-water reactors in return for scrapping its nuclear weapons programs.
A high-ranking Seoul official said in Beijing, asking not to be named, that the government does not think there is any possibility of providing electricity and a light-water reactor to North Korea at the same time. Thus, the six nations have to discuss providing a new reactor to the energy-starved country.
But the discussion itself will be possible only when Pyongyang dismantles its nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs in a verifiable manner, as Christopher Hill, the top U.S. negotiator, said.
It took 35 months to produce the document of principles on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. Nobody knows how long it will take to agree on a plan of action.
Originally reported by Korea Times
