Roh, Bush to Address Counterproposal to P'yang
Navy NewStand
2003-05-13
NEW YORK - President Roh Moo-hyun and U.S. President George W. Bush are expected to announce a joint counterproposal to an offer made by North Korea during talks held in Beijing to resolve the international standoff triggered by the Stalinist country’s nuclear programs during their May 14 summit.
“President Roh Moo-hyun and U.S. President Bush are scheduled to address the offer made by the North during the three-way talks involving the United States, North Korea and China in Beijing late last month,” Ban Ki-moon, senior advisor for foreign policy, said.
However, he didn’t elaborate on the contents of the counter offer, if the two countries are planning to make one.
During the April 23-25 three-way talks in Beijing, the first meeting in six months after the start of a nuclear crisis triggered by Pyongyang’s admission to running a uranium-based nuclear program, the Stalinist country reportedly offered to dismantle its nuclear programs step by step, corresponding to U.S. measures of reciprocity. The North demanded the U.S. provide it with economic aid such as the resumption of suspended heavy oil supplies, guarantees of its survival and diplomatic relations.
The U.S. has not responded yet, saying that it has not decided whether to continue the next round of talks with the North, although Seoul has expressed its wish to see further talks even without its participation.
The Bush administration is divided between the pros and cons of further talks with the North, with those against arguing that dialogue would be seen as an act of rewarding the North for bad behavior. Amid the deadlock over how to handle the North Korean issue, it is said that the U.S. may turn to the United Nations to deal with the North Korean nuclear crisis.
The final decision is expected to be made after Bush meets Roh and holds a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
Ban repeated Seoul’s stance that it doesn’t want to see the North Korean nuclear crisis dealt with at the U.N.
“With the beginning of three-way talks, the issue has not reached the stage requiring U.N. attention,” he said.
The North Korean issue has been referred to the U.N. but U.S. efforts to issue a strong statement of condemnation did not muster enough support.
Source : www.korea.net
