ID :
208244
Tue, 09/20/2011 - 10:27
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/208244
The shortlink copeid
S. Korea seeks 'fruitful' nuclear talks with N. Korea
BEIJING/SEOUL, Sept. 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's chief nuclear envoy arrived in Beijing on Tuesday to meet again with his North Korean counterpart, hoping to achieve a "fruitful result" in the meeting aimed at reviving the stalled six-nation talks on ending the North's nuclear weapons programs.
Wi Sung-lac of South Korea and Ri Yong-ho of North Korea will meet on Wednesday in Beijing for their second meeting since late July. The July contact in Indonesia and a subsequent meeting between senior U.S. and North Korean officials have raised prospects for resuming the six-party talks, but no major progress has been made.
"I will go into the negotiations to achieve a fruitful result since it is the second dialogue," Wi said of the Wednesday meeting as he arrived at the Beijing airport.
Wednesday's talks will span "a wide range of issues regarding the denuclearization" of North Korea, but Wi declined to go into specifics.
The question now is whether North Korea will accept "pre-steps" demanded by South Korea and the U.S. before the resumption of the six-party talks, which also involve China, Russia and Japan.
Seoul and Washington have insisted that Pyongyang halt all nuclear activities, including its uranium enrichment program, and allow U.N. inspectors to monitor the suspension before the six-party talks reopen.
Still, chances for progress at the Wednesday talks appeared to be low as the North's chief envoy Ri on Monday repeated calls for an "unconditional" resumption of the six-party forum.
Before heading to Beijing on Tuesday, Wi told Yonhap News Agency that, "(My) basic position is that I will handle the talks in line with our principles, but I will approach them with an open and flexible mind."
The envoy said he plans to focus on North Korea's steps toward denuclearization and listen to any points the North may raise concerning the issue.
"Rather than discussing a specific (nuclear weapons) program, I plan to talk about making overall progress toward denuclearization," Wi said.
The Beijing talks come two months after the envoys met in Indonesia for the first time in more than two years, setting the tone for renewed diplomatic efforts to reopen the stalled six-party denuclearization talks. The multilateral forum, aimed at ending the North's nuclear weapons programs in return for economic aid, has been dormant since late 2008 due to the North's nuclear and missile tests and its military attacks on the South last year.
Washington also recently held preliminary discussions with Pyongyang to gauge the possibility of restarting the talks.
"We are currently in the process of denuclearization. In that process, the six-party talks are important, but bilateral talks are also a very important factor," Wi said. "From that perspective, inter-Korean denuclearization talks are an essential part of the negotiation process for denuclearization."
North Korea has a track record of using provocations and dialogue with South Korea, the U.S. and other regional powers to try to wrest concessions before backtracking on agreements and abandoning talks.
In November last year, North Korea also revealed the existence of a uranium enrichment facility, adding urgency to international efforts to check Pyongyang's nuclear weapons development.
The North claims the uranium enrichment program is for the development of peaceful energy, but outside experts believe it will give the country a new source of fission material to make atomic bombs, in addition to its widely known plutonium-based weapons program.
Wi Sung-lac of South Korea and Ri Yong-ho of North Korea will meet on Wednesday in Beijing for their second meeting since late July. The July contact in Indonesia and a subsequent meeting between senior U.S. and North Korean officials have raised prospects for resuming the six-party talks, but no major progress has been made.
"I will go into the negotiations to achieve a fruitful result since it is the second dialogue," Wi said of the Wednesday meeting as he arrived at the Beijing airport.
Wednesday's talks will span "a wide range of issues regarding the denuclearization" of North Korea, but Wi declined to go into specifics.
The question now is whether North Korea will accept "pre-steps" demanded by South Korea and the U.S. before the resumption of the six-party talks, which also involve China, Russia and Japan.
Seoul and Washington have insisted that Pyongyang halt all nuclear activities, including its uranium enrichment program, and allow U.N. inspectors to monitor the suspension before the six-party talks reopen.
Still, chances for progress at the Wednesday talks appeared to be low as the North's chief envoy Ri on Monday repeated calls for an "unconditional" resumption of the six-party forum.
Before heading to Beijing on Tuesday, Wi told Yonhap News Agency that, "(My) basic position is that I will handle the talks in line with our principles, but I will approach them with an open and flexible mind."
The envoy said he plans to focus on North Korea's steps toward denuclearization and listen to any points the North may raise concerning the issue.
"Rather than discussing a specific (nuclear weapons) program, I plan to talk about making overall progress toward denuclearization," Wi said.
The Beijing talks come two months after the envoys met in Indonesia for the first time in more than two years, setting the tone for renewed diplomatic efforts to reopen the stalled six-party denuclearization talks. The multilateral forum, aimed at ending the North's nuclear weapons programs in return for economic aid, has been dormant since late 2008 due to the North's nuclear and missile tests and its military attacks on the South last year.
Washington also recently held preliminary discussions with Pyongyang to gauge the possibility of restarting the talks.
"We are currently in the process of denuclearization. In that process, the six-party talks are important, but bilateral talks are also a very important factor," Wi said. "From that perspective, inter-Korean denuclearization talks are an essential part of the negotiation process for denuclearization."
North Korea has a track record of using provocations and dialogue with South Korea, the U.S. and other regional powers to try to wrest concessions before backtracking on agreements and abandoning talks.
In November last year, North Korea also revealed the existence of a uranium enrichment facility, adding urgency to international efforts to check Pyongyang's nuclear weapons development.
The North claims the uranium enrichment program is for the development of peaceful energy, but outside experts believe it will give the country a new source of fission material to make atomic bombs, in addition to its widely known plutonium-based weapons program.
