N. Korea calls 'comprehensive package' of U.S. incentives 'nonsense'

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with more comments)
By Lee Chi-dong
PHUKET, Thailand, July 23 (Yonhap) -- A senior North Korean diplomat on Thursday
dismissed a U.S.-proposed "comprehensive package" of political and economic
incentives for Pyongyang as "nonsense."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on a visit here to attend the ASEAN
Regional Forum (ARF), said Wednesday that Washington is willing to provide the
package, including the normalization of diplomatic relations with Pyongyang, if
the communist nation moves towards "complete and irreversible" denuclearization.
"The comprehensive package is nonsense," Ri Hung-sik, director-general of the
North Korean foreign ministry's international organization bureau. Ri is deputy
head of the North's delegation to the ARF.
"It is just a replay of the Bush administration's policy of CVID (complete,
verifiable, irreversible dismantlement)," Ri told reporters.
He said the North Korean government does not care about U.N. sanctions imposed on
Pyongyang for its nuclear test in May, adding it has been under such sanctions
"for half a century."
He also charged that the current standoff between Pyongyang and Washington stems
from Washington's "deep-rooted hostile policy" against Pyongyang.
Ri said U.S. officials should think about why the North has chosen to develop
nuclear weapons.
"The U.S. is telling us to take off all of our clothes," he said. "The most
important thing for us is sovereignty. Sovereignty, security, namely life, should
be guaranteed. How can we barter life with money?"
The North Korean diplomat said his country is willing to talks with the U.S. if
it abandons its hostile policy.
"We can't talk with a person with a knife in his pocket," he said.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)