MacG
03-08-2004, 2:46 AM
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/03/0...r.ap/index.html (http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/03/08/nkorea.nuclear.ap/index.html)
N. Korea threatens new demands
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea has threatened new counter-demands in the standoff with the United States over Pyongyang's nuclear program, saying it may insist on the withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea and a "verifiable and irreversible" security guarantee from Washington.
North Korea said it would forward the new demands if the United States failed to drop its own demand that Pyongyang "completely, verifiably and irreversibly" dismantle its nuclear weapons programs.
North Korea has said it is willing to give up its nuclear program in return for energy and economic aid, as well as a U.S. guarantee that it will not invade the communist country.
But a second round of six-nation talks aimed at brokering a deal ended last month without a major breakthrough. Delegate nations differed over which programs and nuclear sites should be subject to dismantlement and inspection and over how any dismantlement would be verified, South Korean officials have said.
In a dispatch carried Monday by the country's official KCNA news agency, North Korea said if the United States continues to insist on complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement, it would offer its own counter demands.
"With the United States demanding (complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement), we too cannot but demand the complete withdrawal of U.S. military stationed in South Korea in a verifiable manner, and also a complete, verifiable and irreversible security guarantee," the report said.
KCNA was monitored by South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
The communist country frequently demands that the United States remove its troops from South Korea, but attaching them to the nuclear issue would be a new move. The United States keep 37,000 soldiers in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.
The new demands, if brought to the negotiating table, could complicate the next round of six-nation talks between the United States, the two Koreas, China, Russia and Japan. The sides agreed to meet again before July and plan to form a lower-level "working group" to work out the details.
The KCNA report, citing a commentary in the state-run Rodong Sinmun, said Washington wanted the North to dismantle its nuclear programs to soften its defenses ahead of a war.
North Korea frequently accuses the United States of planning an attack and has asked Washington for a written security guarantee. Washington says it has no plans to invade and has offered to put something on paper.
"If the United States drops its demand that North Korea first give up its nuclear program and switches its hostile policy toward DPRK, there would be dramatic progress in resolving the issue."
DPRK stands for Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.
A verifiable and irreversible security guarantee would be akin to a security treaty -- something many in Washington oppose.
N. Korea threatens new demands
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea has threatened new counter-demands in the standoff with the United States over Pyongyang's nuclear program, saying it may insist on the withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea and a "verifiable and irreversible" security guarantee from Washington.
North Korea said it would forward the new demands if the United States failed to drop its own demand that Pyongyang "completely, verifiably and irreversibly" dismantle its nuclear weapons programs.
North Korea has said it is willing to give up its nuclear program in return for energy and economic aid, as well as a U.S. guarantee that it will not invade the communist country.
But a second round of six-nation talks aimed at brokering a deal ended last month without a major breakthrough. Delegate nations differed over which programs and nuclear sites should be subject to dismantlement and inspection and over how any dismantlement would be verified, South Korean officials have said.
In a dispatch carried Monday by the country's official KCNA news agency, North Korea said if the United States continues to insist on complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement, it would offer its own counter demands.
"With the United States demanding (complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement), we too cannot but demand the complete withdrawal of U.S. military stationed in South Korea in a verifiable manner, and also a complete, verifiable and irreversible security guarantee," the report said.
KCNA was monitored by South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
The communist country frequently demands that the United States remove its troops from South Korea, but attaching them to the nuclear issue would be a new move. The United States keep 37,000 soldiers in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.
The new demands, if brought to the negotiating table, could complicate the next round of six-nation talks between the United States, the two Koreas, China, Russia and Japan. The sides agreed to meet again before July and plan to form a lower-level "working group" to work out the details.
The KCNA report, citing a commentary in the state-run Rodong Sinmun, said Washington wanted the North to dismantle its nuclear programs to soften its defenses ahead of a war.
North Korea frequently accuses the United States of planning an attack and has asked Washington for a written security guarantee. Washington says it has no plans to invade and has offered to put something on paper.
"If the United States drops its demand that North Korea first give up its nuclear program and switches its hostile policy toward DPRK, there would be dramatic progress in resolving the issue."
DPRK stands for Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.
A verifiable and irreversible security guarantee would be akin to a security treaty -- something many in Washington oppose.