sferrin
12-18-2006, 11:49 AM
"N.K. reads laundry list of demands
POSTED: 10:47 a.m. EST, December 18, 2006
BEIJING, China (*******) -- North Korea and the United States stood poles apart on Monday as talks on scrapping the communist state's nuclear arms resumed after a year-long hiatus.
Addressing the six-party forum, Pyongyang's chief delegate demanded an end to U.N. sanctions, U.S. financial curbs and a reactor before it would consider disarmament.
In response to this "exhaustive list", chief U.S. envoy Christopher Hill warned his interlocutor that Washington's patience had "reached its limits", said a source close to the first talks session since North Korea tested a nuclear device in October.
North Korea's opening speech took a "department store approach", presenting "an exhaustive list of all its demands" and demanding that Washington end its "hostile policy" before Pyongyang would agree to rein in its nuclear programs, a South Korean official told reporters.
The other five countries at the table -- host China, the United States, South Korea, Japan and Russia -- want to see North Korea take concrete steps to implement a joint statement agreed in September 2005.
In that statement, North Korea agreed in principle to give up nuclear weapons in return for aid and security guarantees.
But North Korean chief negotiator Kim Kye-gwan said his country would not consider implementing the agreement until U.S. and United Nations financial sanctions on it were lifted, the source said.
Washington imposed its financial curbs more than a year ago after determining that Pyongyang was engaged in money-laundering and counterfeiting American currency. The U.N. leveled sanctions in October after condemning the North's nuclear test.
Kim said it was his country's ultimate goal to abandon its nuclear programs, but he also demanded the North be provided with a light-water nuclear reactor to meet its civilian energy needs and substitute energy aid until the reactor is completed in order for it to begin doing so, the source said.
Emboldened North
Analysts had expected an emboldened North Korea, which now calls itself a nuclear state, to stake out a tough position and had cautioned that swift compromise was unlikely.
"The issues to be discussed and addressed by this meeting are complex and profound, and the tasks borne by all the parties are both glorious and arduous," Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei told delegates.
Despite the challenges, the United States and Japan both insisted that they wanted to see progress.
"We demand North Korea take prompt action in line with promises it made in the joint statement," chief Japanese negotiator Kenichiro Sasae told envoys, according to a text given to reporters. "It's up to North Korea to choose what path. The opportunity must not be wasted."
A South Korean official said the U.S. and North Korean envoys were likely to have two-way discussions later on Monday. A separate U.S. Treasury Department delegation is expected to meet the North Koreans to discuss the financial standoff.
But U.S. envoy Hill has urged North Korea to focus on the nuclear dispute, and warned Pyongyang it faces deeper isolation if it fails to keep its disarmament promise.
"If they want a future with us, if they want to work with us, if they want to be a member of the international community, they're going to have to get out of this nuclear business," Hill said on Sunday.
Hill said he hoped to be home for Christmas, avoiding a marathon session at the hexagonal negotiating table. The six teams are accompanied by a throng of interpreters to translate the arcane terminology of nuclear diplomacy."
And people wonder why we need missile defense.
POSTED: 10:47 a.m. EST, December 18, 2006
BEIJING, China (*******) -- North Korea and the United States stood poles apart on Monday as talks on scrapping the communist state's nuclear arms resumed after a year-long hiatus.
Addressing the six-party forum, Pyongyang's chief delegate demanded an end to U.N. sanctions, U.S. financial curbs and a reactor before it would consider disarmament.
In response to this "exhaustive list", chief U.S. envoy Christopher Hill warned his interlocutor that Washington's patience had "reached its limits", said a source close to the first talks session since North Korea tested a nuclear device in October.
North Korea's opening speech took a "department store approach", presenting "an exhaustive list of all its demands" and demanding that Washington end its "hostile policy" before Pyongyang would agree to rein in its nuclear programs, a South Korean official told reporters.
The other five countries at the table -- host China, the United States, South Korea, Japan and Russia -- want to see North Korea take concrete steps to implement a joint statement agreed in September 2005.
In that statement, North Korea agreed in principle to give up nuclear weapons in return for aid and security guarantees.
But North Korean chief negotiator Kim Kye-gwan said his country would not consider implementing the agreement until U.S. and United Nations financial sanctions on it were lifted, the source said.
Washington imposed its financial curbs more than a year ago after determining that Pyongyang was engaged in money-laundering and counterfeiting American currency. The U.N. leveled sanctions in October after condemning the North's nuclear test.
Kim said it was his country's ultimate goal to abandon its nuclear programs, but he also demanded the North be provided with a light-water nuclear reactor to meet its civilian energy needs and substitute energy aid until the reactor is completed in order for it to begin doing so, the source said.
Emboldened North
Analysts had expected an emboldened North Korea, which now calls itself a nuclear state, to stake out a tough position and had cautioned that swift compromise was unlikely.
"The issues to be discussed and addressed by this meeting are complex and profound, and the tasks borne by all the parties are both glorious and arduous," Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei told delegates.
Despite the challenges, the United States and Japan both insisted that they wanted to see progress.
"We demand North Korea take prompt action in line with promises it made in the joint statement," chief Japanese negotiator Kenichiro Sasae told envoys, according to a text given to reporters. "It's up to North Korea to choose what path. The opportunity must not be wasted."
A South Korean official said the U.S. and North Korean envoys were likely to have two-way discussions later on Monday. A separate U.S. Treasury Department delegation is expected to meet the North Koreans to discuss the financial standoff.
But U.S. envoy Hill has urged North Korea to focus on the nuclear dispute, and warned Pyongyang it faces deeper isolation if it fails to keep its disarmament promise.
"If they want a future with us, if they want to work with us, if they want to be a member of the international community, they're going to have to get out of this nuclear business," Hill said on Sunday.
Hill said he hoped to be home for Christmas, avoiding a marathon session at the hexagonal negotiating table. The six teams are accompanied by a throng of interpreters to translate the arcane terminology of nuclear diplomacy."
And people wonder why we need missile defense.