S. Korean minister downplays Pyongyang's objection to 'comprehensive package'

By Lee Chi-dong
PHUKET, Thailand, July 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan
on Thursday played down North Korea's initial response to an envisioned
"comprehensive package" of incentives offered to Pyongyang in return for the
"complete and irreversible" dismantlement of its nuclear program.

Attending the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) here, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton announced Wednesday that the Obama administration is willing to offer a
comprehensive package, including normalization of diplomatic relations with
North Korea, if it abandons its nuclear arsenal.
Only a day later, however, a North Korean representative to the ARF called the
proposal "nonsense," claiming it is part of Washington's attempt to unilaterally
disarm Pyongyang. Ri Hung-sik, head of the North Korean foreign ministry's
international organization bureau, told reporters that it is tantamount to the
Bush administration's push for "complete, verifiable, and irreversible"
denuclearization.
The South Korean minister would not regard Ri's comments as Pyongyang's formal
response to the package, which has not been officially put on the bargaining
table.
"For now, it is still a concept, of which details should be worked out through
consultations among related nations," the minister said at a press briefing on
the results of the ARF meeting.
He said that the proposal is part of efforts to prepare for the resumption of the
six-way disarmament talks with the North.
Yu said that South Korea has yet to consult on the issue with China, which chairs
the talks also involving Russia and Japan.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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