ID :
72193
Sat, 07/25/2009 - 22:40
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/72193
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Pyongyang willing to resume dialogue with U.S.: N. Korean amb. to U.N.
NEW YORK, July 24 Kyodo -
The North Korean ambassador to the United Nations indicated Friday that
Pyongyang would be interested in resuming direct dialogue with the United
States.
''We are not against a dialogue. We are not against any negotiation for the
issues of common concern,'' Ambassador Sin Soh Ho said in his first media
appearance since North Korea launched in early April a satellite-carrying
rocket many other countries believe was a disguised test-firing of a long-range
ballistic missile.
Asked if North Korea would be willing to return to the six-party talks on
denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, the ambassador ruled out the possibility.
''The six-party talks are gone forever. We will never participate in the
six-party talks,'' Sin said.
The ambassador said Pyongyang was ''cheated'' by the other six-party members --
South Korea, Russia, Japan, China and the United States.
''They did not implement what they had agreed, what they had promised,'' Sin
said. ''So we could not trust them any longer.''
He indicated North Korea's access to nuclear arms is justifiable ''as long as
we are exposed to nuclear threat from the United States.''
Sin denied the possibility of North Korea withdrawing from the United Nations
in protest against a U.N. resolution condemning the country for its second
nuclear test.
Asked if Pyongyang will remain a U.N. member, the ambassador said,
''Absolutely, why not? In the future, why not?''
In mid-July, a U.N. sanctions committee slapped a new set of sanctions on North
Korea based on Resolution 1874, which the Security Council adopted on June 12
in response to North Korea's second nuclear test on May 25.
Sin blasted the resolution as being ''unfair'' and ''intended only against us.''
''So our position is not to accept this kind of resolution,'' he said.
The ambassador said Pyongyang is prepared to take countermeasures against
possible inspections by U.N. members of North Korean cargo in line with
Resolution 1874.
If any forced inspection of North Korean cargo is conducted, the country will
regard it as a violation of its sovereignty, he said. ''We will react to it if
it is done.''
The resolution said the Security Council ''calls upon'' all U.N. members to
inspect all cargo to and from North Korea in their territories including
seaports and airports, if the concerned state has ''information that provides
reasonable grounds'' to believe that such cargo contains nuclear and
missile-related items.
Sin declined to comment on the health of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and
whether Pyongyang would test-fire another missile.
==Kyodo
The North Korean ambassador to the United Nations indicated Friday that
Pyongyang would be interested in resuming direct dialogue with the United
States.
''We are not against a dialogue. We are not against any negotiation for the
issues of common concern,'' Ambassador Sin Soh Ho said in his first media
appearance since North Korea launched in early April a satellite-carrying
rocket many other countries believe was a disguised test-firing of a long-range
ballistic missile.
Asked if North Korea would be willing to return to the six-party talks on
denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, the ambassador ruled out the possibility.
''The six-party talks are gone forever. We will never participate in the
six-party talks,'' Sin said.
The ambassador said Pyongyang was ''cheated'' by the other six-party members --
South Korea, Russia, Japan, China and the United States.
''They did not implement what they had agreed, what they had promised,'' Sin
said. ''So we could not trust them any longer.''
He indicated North Korea's access to nuclear arms is justifiable ''as long as
we are exposed to nuclear threat from the United States.''
Sin denied the possibility of North Korea withdrawing from the United Nations
in protest against a U.N. resolution condemning the country for its second
nuclear test.
Asked if Pyongyang will remain a U.N. member, the ambassador said,
''Absolutely, why not? In the future, why not?''
In mid-July, a U.N. sanctions committee slapped a new set of sanctions on North
Korea based on Resolution 1874, which the Security Council adopted on June 12
in response to North Korea's second nuclear test on May 25.
Sin blasted the resolution as being ''unfair'' and ''intended only against us.''
''So our position is not to accept this kind of resolution,'' he said.
The ambassador said Pyongyang is prepared to take countermeasures against
possible inspections by U.N. members of North Korean cargo in line with
Resolution 1874.
If any forced inspection of North Korean cargo is conducted, the country will
regard it as a violation of its sovereignty, he said. ''We will react to it if
it is done.''
The resolution said the Security Council ''calls upon'' all U.N. members to
inspect all cargo to and from North Korea in their territories including
seaports and airports, if the concerned state has ''information that provides
reasonable grounds'' to believe that such cargo contains nuclear and
missile-related items.
Sin declined to comment on the health of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and
whether Pyongyang would test-fire another missile.
==Kyodo
