ID :
204815
Thu, 09/01/2011 - 17:54
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/204815
The shortlink copeid
N. Korea urges Noda to mend ties, no plan to end uranium enrichment+
PYONGYANG, Sept. 1 Kyodo -
North Korea's No. 2 leader, Kim Yong Nam, urged Japan's incoming Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Thursday to move to improve bilateral ties, saying it is ''up to a new government'' to determine the future of relations that he said are key to ensuring peace and stability in Northeast Asia.
Despite suspicion surrounding North Korea's uranium enrichment program, Kim, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, offered justifications for the program and indicated that Pyongyang has no plan to halt it.
''It's up to the attitude of the Japanese side, specifically now a new government, to improve (North) Korea-Japan relations,'' Kim said in an interview with Kyodo News and three other Japanese news organizations in Pyongyang.
Kim suggested Pyongyang will closely watch Noda's foreign policy, especially North Korea policy, as Pyongyang has resumed bilateral talks with South Korea and the United States in an effort to restart the six-party talks on the North's nuclear programs.
''We don't yet know whether (Noda) will move toward a positive direction to improve (North) Korea-Japan relations or follow the same path of previous governments'' in doing little to improve ties, he said.
Noda, who was named prime minister in parliament Tuesday, is to form his Cabinet on Friday.
On nuclear issues, Kim said he wants other countries to understand North Korea's oft-repeated position that its uranium enrichment activities are an exercise of its legitimate right as a sovereign state to utilize nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
''Not only our country but other countries in the world are enriching uranium. But the problem is why the world pays attention only to the uranium enrichment program of our country,'' he said, suggesting North Korea has no plan to end enrichment activities.
Efforts to restart the six-party denuclearization talks have been complicated by two deadly confrontations between North and South Korea last year as well as Pyongyang's revelation of its uranium enrichment program in November.
South Korea, the United States and Japan want North Korea to demonstrate its denuclearization commitment before the stalled talks can be resumed.
The six-country talks, which also involve China and Russia, have been stalled since December 2008.
Kim accused the United States of ''singling out'' North Korea's enrichment program in an effort to ''guide world opinion extremely negative'' toward Pyongyang.
Kim added such action reflects Washington's ''wily will'' to disturb Pyongyang's exchanges and cooperation with other countries.
Turning back to relations with Japan, Kim said the 2002 Pyongyang Declaration is an ''important and meaningful document that serves as a benchmark to normalize relations.''
He was referring to a declaration signed in September 2002 between North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and then Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in their talks in Pyongyang, in which the two governments committed themselves to work toward normalizing ties.
However, Kim Yong Nam criticized Japanese leaders after Koizumi -- starting from Shinzo Abe of the Liberal Democratic Party to outgoing Prime Minister Naoto Kan of the Democratic Party of Japan -- for lacking the will to implement the declaration.
On Wednesday, Kim Chol Ho, vice director of the North Korean Foreign Ministry's Asian Affairs Department, said a Noda government ''should consider how to improve the soured atmosphere'' of relations, indirectly urging Japan to lift bilateral sanctions on North Korea.
Kim Chol Ho stressed North Korea has settled issues regarding its abduction of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s, and said Pyongyang no longer wants to discuss them with Tokyo.
Japan argues the abduction issue is yet to be settled and calls on the North to reinvestigate the whereabouts of abducted Japanese nationals who North Korea says are already dead or never entered the country.
North Korea's No. 2 leader, Kim Yong Nam, urged Japan's incoming Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Thursday to move to improve bilateral ties, saying it is ''up to a new government'' to determine the future of relations that he said are key to ensuring peace and stability in Northeast Asia.
Despite suspicion surrounding North Korea's uranium enrichment program, Kim, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, offered justifications for the program and indicated that Pyongyang has no plan to halt it.
''It's up to the attitude of the Japanese side, specifically now a new government, to improve (North) Korea-Japan relations,'' Kim said in an interview with Kyodo News and three other Japanese news organizations in Pyongyang.
Kim suggested Pyongyang will closely watch Noda's foreign policy, especially North Korea policy, as Pyongyang has resumed bilateral talks with South Korea and the United States in an effort to restart the six-party talks on the North's nuclear programs.
''We don't yet know whether (Noda) will move toward a positive direction to improve (North) Korea-Japan relations or follow the same path of previous governments'' in doing little to improve ties, he said.
Noda, who was named prime minister in parliament Tuesday, is to form his Cabinet on Friday.
On nuclear issues, Kim said he wants other countries to understand North Korea's oft-repeated position that its uranium enrichment activities are an exercise of its legitimate right as a sovereign state to utilize nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
''Not only our country but other countries in the world are enriching uranium. But the problem is why the world pays attention only to the uranium enrichment program of our country,'' he said, suggesting North Korea has no plan to end enrichment activities.
Efforts to restart the six-party denuclearization talks have been complicated by two deadly confrontations between North and South Korea last year as well as Pyongyang's revelation of its uranium enrichment program in November.
South Korea, the United States and Japan want North Korea to demonstrate its denuclearization commitment before the stalled talks can be resumed.
The six-country talks, which also involve China and Russia, have been stalled since December 2008.
Kim accused the United States of ''singling out'' North Korea's enrichment program in an effort to ''guide world opinion extremely negative'' toward Pyongyang.
Kim added such action reflects Washington's ''wily will'' to disturb Pyongyang's exchanges and cooperation with other countries.
Turning back to relations with Japan, Kim said the 2002 Pyongyang Declaration is an ''important and meaningful document that serves as a benchmark to normalize relations.''
He was referring to a declaration signed in September 2002 between North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and then Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in their talks in Pyongyang, in which the two governments committed themselves to work toward normalizing ties.
However, Kim Yong Nam criticized Japanese leaders after Koizumi -- starting from Shinzo Abe of the Liberal Democratic Party to outgoing Prime Minister Naoto Kan of the Democratic Party of Japan -- for lacking the will to implement the declaration.
On Wednesday, Kim Chol Ho, vice director of the North Korean Foreign Ministry's Asian Affairs Department, said a Noda government ''should consider how to improve the soured atmosphere'' of relations, indirectly urging Japan to lift bilateral sanctions on North Korea.
Kim Chol Ho stressed North Korea has settled issues regarding its abduction of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s, and said Pyongyang no longer wants to discuss them with Tokyo.
Japan argues the abduction issue is yet to be settled and calls on the North to reinvestigate the whereabouts of abducted Japanese nationals who North Korea says are already dead or never entered the country.
