N.K. told Bosworth that U.N. sanctions are unreasonable: Seoul FM

By Tony Chang
SEOUL, Dec. 16 (Yonhap) -- North Korea apparently told a visiting U.S. envoy that
international sanctions imposed on Pyongyang over its long-range rocket launch
were unreasonable, insisting the launch was for non-military purposes, Seoul's
top diplomat said Wednesday.
"(I am) aware that North Korea delivered its position to U.S. special envoy
Stephen Bosworth, who traveled to the North from Dec. 8 to 10, that the U.N.
sanctions on the country are unreasonable," Yu Myung-hwan, Seoul's foreign
minister, said at a press conference.
North Korea launched what it claimed was a satellite-bearing long-range rocket in
April, drawing international condemnation for what regional powers said was a
disguised test of missile technology. While Pyongyang insisted the satellite
successfully entered orbit, outside monitors say no such object had been detected
in space.
The U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution imposing financial and
other sanctions on North Korea, which retaliated by withdrawing from ongoing
six-party denuclearization talks also involving South Korea, the United States,
China, Japan and Russia.
Bosworth, a former U.S. ambassador to Seoul, made a three-day visit to Pyongyang
last week, the first high-level contact with North Korea since the Obama
administration took office in January.
He failed to obtain the North's commitment to return to the six-party talks, but
said the participants "identified some common understandings" on the need to
restart the multilateral forum. The talks have been deadlocked since the U.N.
sanctions were imposed earlier this year following the North's nuclear and
missile tests.
North Korea maintains that the rocket was launched as part of a "peaceful space
program," Yu said, but the minister downplayed such claims.
"(The claim) is similar to its position arguing that the U.S. should drop its
hostile policy towards the North before it returns to the six-party talks," said
Yu, suggesting the remarks are part of the usual rhetoric put out by Pyongyang.
The minister "positively evaluated" Bosworth's trip to the North for "drawing out
a common understanding" between Washington and Pyongyang over the need to
maintain the six-party talks.
Yu also stated that other members of the talks were in unison over not rewarding
the North for returning to the stalled dialogue, saying that the parties will
continue to maintain a "two-track" strategy of sanctions and negotiations.
Bosworth's trip to Pyongyang had raised hopes for a breakthrough in the stalemate
over denuclearizing North Korea, but he stressed the envoy held "exploratory
talks, not negotiations" in Pyongyang.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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