ID :
184822
Fri, 05/27/2011 - 09:09
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/184822
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S. Korea's foreign minister discounts Kim Jong-il's call for talks
SEOUL, May 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's top diplomat said Friday he was underwhelmed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's remark calling for the resumption of international talks on the communist state's nuclear arms programs.
Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan said Kim Jong-il's remark on Wednesday during a summit with Chinese President Hu Jintao is "nothing to warrant special attention," saying Seoul is waiting for Pyongyang to follow up with a specific proposal for dialogue.
Kim Jong-il on Friday ended his weeklong trip to his country's foremost benefactor China, which also hosts six-party nuclear talks designed to wean Pyongyang from its nuclear ambitions.
China proposed earlier this year that North and South Korea hold direct denuclearization talks as a step toward the resumption of the talks that also include the U.S., Russia and Japan. The talks, which Seoul and Washington say should not reopen until Pyongyang makes tangible steps toward nuclear dismantlement, were last held in 2008.
"National Defense Commission chairman Kim Jong-il has always been speaking about resuming the six-party talks," Kim Sung-hwan said in a meeting with members of a Korea-U.S. friendship organization here.
"We're waiting to see if the North will" indeed agree to cross-border talks between their nuclear envoys, Kim said.
According to the North's official Korean Central News Agency, Kim and Hu recognized the importance of the "adherence to the goal of denuclearization on the whole Korean Peninsula, peaceful settlement of the issue through dialogue, including the resumption of the six-party talks, and the elimination of obstructive elements."
The official Korean Central Television said Friday the North's foreign minister, Paik Ui-chun, stressed the need for "dialogue and negotiations to ease tension and build trust" with the South and the U.S. during a diplomatic conference in Indonesia earlier this week.
Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan said Kim Jong-il's remark on Wednesday during a summit with Chinese President Hu Jintao is "nothing to warrant special attention," saying Seoul is waiting for Pyongyang to follow up with a specific proposal for dialogue.
Kim Jong-il on Friday ended his weeklong trip to his country's foremost benefactor China, which also hosts six-party nuclear talks designed to wean Pyongyang from its nuclear ambitions.
China proposed earlier this year that North and South Korea hold direct denuclearization talks as a step toward the resumption of the talks that also include the U.S., Russia and Japan. The talks, which Seoul and Washington say should not reopen until Pyongyang makes tangible steps toward nuclear dismantlement, were last held in 2008.
"National Defense Commission chairman Kim Jong-il has always been speaking about resuming the six-party talks," Kim Sung-hwan said in a meeting with members of a Korea-U.S. friendship organization here.
"We're waiting to see if the North will" indeed agree to cross-border talks between their nuclear envoys, Kim said.
According to the North's official Korean Central News Agency, Kim and Hu recognized the importance of the "adherence to the goal of denuclearization on the whole Korean Peninsula, peaceful settlement of the issue through dialogue, including the resumption of the six-party talks, and the elimination of obstructive elements."
The official Korean Central Television said Friday the North's foreign minister, Paik Ui-chun, stressed the need for "dialogue and negotiations to ease tension and build trust" with the South and the U.S. during a diplomatic conference in Indonesia earlier this week.
