ID :
210941
Tue, 10/04/2011 - 04:11
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/210941
The shortlink copeid
N. Korea rejects preconditions for resuming nuclear talks
SEOUL (Yonhap) - North Korea's state media rejected preconditions for resuming long-stalled talks on ending Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programs.
The North quit the nuclear talks in 2009, but it has since repeatedly expressed its desire to return to the negotiating table without any preconditions.
The talks, which involve the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia, were last held in Beijing in late 2008.
Still, Seoul and Washington insist, among other things, that Pyongyang halt its uranium enrichment program and allow U.N. inspectors back into the country before resuming the talks.
"The U.S. is creating the wrong impression that there are things which the (North) has to do first for the resumption of the talks," the North's Korean Central News Agency said in a commentary.
"The U.S. talk about preconditions is little short of artifice to shift the blame for the failure to resume the six-party talks on" to North Korea.
North Korea often announces its policy decisions through its state media.
The development represents a deep divide among the parties and indicated that the talks appear unlikely to be resumed anytime soon.
Last month, the nuclear envoys of South and North Korea held their second meeting in Beijing in as many months to try to lay the groundwork for the resumption of the nuclear talks, although no significant progress was made.
The North quit the nuclear talks in 2009, but it has since repeatedly expressed its desire to return to the negotiating table without any preconditions.
The talks, which involve the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia, were last held in Beijing in late 2008.
Still, Seoul and Washington insist, among other things, that Pyongyang halt its uranium enrichment program and allow U.N. inspectors back into the country before resuming the talks.
"The U.S. is creating the wrong impression that there are things which the (North) has to do first for the resumption of the talks," the North's Korean Central News Agency said in a commentary.
"The U.S. talk about preconditions is little short of artifice to shift the blame for the failure to resume the six-party talks on" to North Korea.
North Korea often announces its policy decisions through its state media.
The development represents a deep divide among the parties and indicated that the talks appear unlikely to be resumed anytime soon.
Last month, the nuclear envoys of South and North Korea held their second meeting in Beijing in as many months to try to lay the groundwork for the resumption of the nuclear talks, although no significant progress was made.
