samanthajane13
09-26-2009, 12:15 AM
By FOSTER KLUG, Associated Press Writer Foster Klug, Associated Press Writer – Fri Sep 25, 8:19 pm ET
PITTSBURGH – South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said Friday the world must take a strong stand against North Korea's nuclear ambitions, despite recent conciliatory gestures from Pyongyang.
After months of threatening nuclear war and conducting nuclear and missile tests, North Korea has recently eased its angry rhetoric and appeared more willing to rejoin stalled nuclear disarmament talks.
In an interview with a small group of reporters at the end of the Group of 20 economic summit, Lee said North Korea must return to talks "with sincerity," whatever the country's reason for reaching out to the outside world in recent weeks.
"If they are sincere, then we are ready to provide them with whatever is necessary," Lee said through an interpreter.
But Lee, a pro-American conservative whose tough policies have stoked fury in Pyongyang, also sounded a warning about North Korean negotiating tactics.
"In the past, from experience, we know that negotiating with North Korea has always been a process whereby we make one step forward and we take two steps back, and we go back and forth and back and forth, without achieving much results," Lee said.
It is difficult to determine what North Korea's "true intentions" are, Lee said, but the world can be certain the country will not readily give up its nuclear weapons program.
Negotiators, therefore, must work together closely to make sure North Korea has "no choice" but to disarm, Lee said.
South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia are trying to persuade the North to return to the so-called six-nation talks aimed at ridding the North of its nuclear weapons program.
North Korea walked away from the talks in April to protest world criticism of its firing of a rocket over Japan, but signs have been emerging in recent days that North Korea might be willing to return.
The North views its nuclear program as a security guarantee against what it claims are U.S. plans to attack North Korea.
To jump-start the nuclear negotiations, Lee is proposing what he calls a "grand bargain." His offer would give the North economic and political incentives, including a security guarantee, in exchange for the North irreversibly dismantling its nuclear weapons program.
Unlike past deals, Lee has called for Pyongyang to dismantle its nuclear program in one step, instead of in phases.
Lee on Friday dismissed the idea of negotiating a cap of North Korea's current nuclear program and said it is "unthinkable" for the world to accept North Korea as a de facto nuclear power. The North is believed by U.S. intelligence officials to possess enough material to make several nuclear bombs.
Lee suggested that such a recognition could lead to a nuclear arms race, with Japan and South Korea and other countries pursuing their own atomic weapons programs, something he said would be "tremendously detrimental" to world peace and stability.
Washington previously demanded that the North first return to six-nation talks before allowing the one-on-one contact Pyongyang has long pushed for. The United States now says it is considering direct talks if that would bring the North back to negotiations.
South Korea, Lee said, supports direct U.S. contact with North Korea, if it is a "pre-meeting" meant to encourage North Korea to return to six-nation talks.
"The ultimate objective is to convince North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program," Lee said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090926/ap_on_re_us/g20_summit_skorea
PITTSBURGH – South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said Friday the world must take a strong stand against North Korea's nuclear ambitions, despite recent conciliatory gestures from Pyongyang.
After months of threatening nuclear war and conducting nuclear and missile tests, North Korea has recently eased its angry rhetoric and appeared more willing to rejoin stalled nuclear disarmament talks.
In an interview with a small group of reporters at the end of the Group of 20 economic summit, Lee said North Korea must return to talks "with sincerity," whatever the country's reason for reaching out to the outside world in recent weeks.
"If they are sincere, then we are ready to provide them with whatever is necessary," Lee said through an interpreter.
But Lee, a pro-American conservative whose tough policies have stoked fury in Pyongyang, also sounded a warning about North Korean negotiating tactics.
"In the past, from experience, we know that negotiating with North Korea has always been a process whereby we make one step forward and we take two steps back, and we go back and forth and back and forth, without achieving much results," Lee said.
It is difficult to determine what North Korea's "true intentions" are, Lee said, but the world can be certain the country will not readily give up its nuclear weapons program.
Negotiators, therefore, must work together closely to make sure North Korea has "no choice" but to disarm, Lee said.
South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia are trying to persuade the North to return to the so-called six-nation talks aimed at ridding the North of its nuclear weapons program.
North Korea walked away from the talks in April to protest world criticism of its firing of a rocket over Japan, but signs have been emerging in recent days that North Korea might be willing to return.
The North views its nuclear program as a security guarantee against what it claims are U.S. plans to attack North Korea.
To jump-start the nuclear negotiations, Lee is proposing what he calls a "grand bargain." His offer would give the North economic and political incentives, including a security guarantee, in exchange for the North irreversibly dismantling its nuclear weapons program.
Unlike past deals, Lee has called for Pyongyang to dismantle its nuclear program in one step, instead of in phases.
Lee on Friday dismissed the idea of negotiating a cap of North Korea's current nuclear program and said it is "unthinkable" for the world to accept North Korea as a de facto nuclear power. The North is believed by U.S. intelligence officials to possess enough material to make several nuclear bombs.
Lee suggested that such a recognition could lead to a nuclear arms race, with Japan and South Korea and other countries pursuing their own atomic weapons programs, something he said would be "tremendously detrimental" to world peace and stability.
Washington previously demanded that the North first return to six-nation talks before allowing the one-on-one contact Pyongyang has long pushed for. The United States now says it is considering direct talks if that would bring the North back to negotiations.
South Korea, Lee said, supports direct U.S. contact with North Korea, if it is a "pre-meeting" meant to encourage North Korea to return to six-nation talks.
"The ultimate objective is to convince North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program," Lee said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090926/ap_on_re_us/g20_summit_skorea