ID :
203337
Wed, 08/24/2011 - 17:24
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https://oananews.org//node/203337
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Russia says North Korea ready to impose moratorium on WMD tests
SEOUL/ULAN-UDE, Russia, Aug. 24 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il expressed his intent to return to the long-stalled talks on ending Pyongyang's nuclear programs without preconditions and impose a moratorium on tests of weapons of mass destruction, a news report said Wednesday.
Kim made the conciliatory comment during his rare summit meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at a military base on the outskirts of the eastern Siberian city of Ulan-Ude.
Kim was quoted by Medvedev's spokeswoman Nataliya Timakova as saying that in the course of the nuclear talks, his country will be ready to solve the problem of imposing a moratorium on the tests and production of nuclear weapons, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency.
North Korea and Russia also agreed to set up a commission for gas transit to South Korea via North Korea, a lucrative project that could help ease tensions on the divided Korean Peninsula.
The development represents the latest progress in a flurry of diplomatic efforts to coax the North to give up its nuclear weapons programs in return for aid and diplomatic concessions.
The moratorium, if put in place, means that the North would not carry out any further nuclear and missile tests that have long been a cause for concern in the region.
In Seoul, however, South Korean officials said that there was nothing new in Kim's reported comments, though they remain cautious as the government has yet to receive a debriefing from Russia.
"The results of the North Korea-Russia summit fell short of expectations of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan. The North is required to dispel suspicion surrounding its uranium enrichment program, too, in order for the six-party talks to resume," said a government official in Seoul.
The communist country has a track record of alternately using provocations and dialogue with South Korea, the United States and other regional powers to try to wrest concessions before backtracking on agreements and quitting the nuclear talks.
The North quit the disarmament-for-aid talks in 2009 and subsequently conducted its second nuclear test in defiance of international warnings. It also raised tensions by torpedoing a South Korean warship and shelling a South Korean border island last year.
Still, the North has repeatedly expressed its interest in rejoining the nuclear talks that involve South Korea, the United States, China, Russia and Japan. In July, the North's diplomats met with their U.S. counterparts in New York to discuss the matter.
Seoul and Washington have called on Pyongyang to demonstrate its denuclearization commitment before returning to the six-party talks. Seoul also urged Pyongyang to take responsibility for its two deadly attacks on the South last year.
South Korea's chief nuclear envoy, Wi Sung-lac, plans to leave for Beijing on Thursday for one-day talks with his Chinese counterpart to discuss how to move the nuclear talks forward.
Medvedev said he agreed with Kim to set up a commission to supply Russia's natural gas to South Korea, one of the world's largest buyers of the fuel, via North Korea, ITAR-Tass reported.
North Korea "seeks to realize this project," Medvedev said, adding there were plans to build a 1,100-kilometer gas pipeline, according to the Russian news agency.
The project, if realized, could help ease tensions on the peninsula and bring an economic boon to the impoverished North. North Korea could expect to earn more than US$500 million a year in handling charges over the gas pipeline, according to South Korean analysts.
Meanwhile, Kim and Medvedev drafted approaches to settle North Korea's US$11 billion debt, ITAR-Tass said, citing Russian officials.
After the talks, Kim headed toward the east of Siberia, according to local sources. He arrived in Russia over the weekend on his first trip there since 2002.
Kim toured Bureiskaya hydroelectric plant in eastern Siberia's Amur region before reaching Ulan-Ude, where he swam in a pool filled with water from Lake Baikal and visited an aircraft plant.
North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency did not immediately report on the summit talks.
Kim made the conciliatory comment during his rare summit meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at a military base on the outskirts of the eastern Siberian city of Ulan-Ude.
Kim was quoted by Medvedev's spokeswoman Nataliya Timakova as saying that in the course of the nuclear talks, his country will be ready to solve the problem of imposing a moratorium on the tests and production of nuclear weapons, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency.
North Korea and Russia also agreed to set up a commission for gas transit to South Korea via North Korea, a lucrative project that could help ease tensions on the divided Korean Peninsula.
The development represents the latest progress in a flurry of diplomatic efforts to coax the North to give up its nuclear weapons programs in return for aid and diplomatic concessions.
The moratorium, if put in place, means that the North would not carry out any further nuclear and missile tests that have long been a cause for concern in the region.
In Seoul, however, South Korean officials said that there was nothing new in Kim's reported comments, though they remain cautious as the government has yet to receive a debriefing from Russia.
"The results of the North Korea-Russia summit fell short of expectations of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan. The North is required to dispel suspicion surrounding its uranium enrichment program, too, in order for the six-party talks to resume," said a government official in Seoul.
The communist country has a track record of alternately using provocations and dialogue with South Korea, the United States and other regional powers to try to wrest concessions before backtracking on agreements and quitting the nuclear talks.
The North quit the disarmament-for-aid talks in 2009 and subsequently conducted its second nuclear test in defiance of international warnings. It also raised tensions by torpedoing a South Korean warship and shelling a South Korean border island last year.
Still, the North has repeatedly expressed its interest in rejoining the nuclear talks that involve South Korea, the United States, China, Russia and Japan. In July, the North's diplomats met with their U.S. counterparts in New York to discuss the matter.
Seoul and Washington have called on Pyongyang to demonstrate its denuclearization commitment before returning to the six-party talks. Seoul also urged Pyongyang to take responsibility for its two deadly attacks on the South last year.
South Korea's chief nuclear envoy, Wi Sung-lac, plans to leave for Beijing on Thursday for one-day talks with his Chinese counterpart to discuss how to move the nuclear talks forward.
Medvedev said he agreed with Kim to set up a commission to supply Russia's natural gas to South Korea, one of the world's largest buyers of the fuel, via North Korea, ITAR-Tass reported.
North Korea "seeks to realize this project," Medvedev said, adding there were plans to build a 1,100-kilometer gas pipeline, according to the Russian news agency.
The project, if realized, could help ease tensions on the peninsula and bring an economic boon to the impoverished North. North Korea could expect to earn more than US$500 million a year in handling charges over the gas pipeline, according to South Korean analysts.
Meanwhile, Kim and Medvedev drafted approaches to settle North Korea's US$11 billion debt, ITAR-Tass said, citing Russian officials.
After the talks, Kim headed toward the east of Siberia, according to local sources. He arrived in Russia over the weekend on his first trip there since 2002.
Kim toured Bureiskaya hydroelectric plant in eastern Siberia's Amur region before reaching Ulan-Ude, where he swam in a pool filled with water from Lake Baikal and visited an aircraft plant.
North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency did not immediately report on the summit talks.
