Seoul Expects NK to Attend Multilateral Dialogue
2003-06-24
Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun predicted on Monday (June 23) that Pyongyang will take part in multilateral talks if it obtains a security guarantee and assurances of economic assistance.
“The North’s calls for bilateral talks are being seen as an attempt to ascertain whether the Kim Jong-il regime can be recognized (by the United States) and whether it can receive economic assistance,” Jeong said during an interview with a local radio program.
During last week’s annual ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) meeting in Phnom Penh, the North Korean Foreign Ministry’s Ambassador-at-Large Ho Jong said that while the North was not opposed to multilateral talks to discuss its nuclear development, a multi-party forum had to be established to ascertain the exact intentions of the U.S.
So far, the communist country has insisted on one-on-one talks with the U.S. and called for a non-aggression treaty in return for dismantling its nuclear program.
Meanwhile, concerning Washington’s calls for a U.N. Security Council statement calling on the North to scrap its nuclear arms program, Jeong urged Pyongyang not to overreact, noting that the proposed statement is merely a follow-up measure to the referral of the nuclear dispute to the U.N. body in February.
Asked about Japan’s recent refusal to allow North Korean ships to call at its ports, Jeong said the move is being viewed as a form of diplomatic pressure against the North related to the nuclear row, adding that the nuclear standoff has also curtailed international aid to North Korea and limited its room to maneuver.
Regarding economic aid to the famine-stricken country, the minister said the Seoul government has no choice but to limit its aid to humanitarian assistance such as rice and fertilizer.
“The government’s role is to convince the North to receive money from the international community by accepting its request (to abandon its nuclear ambitions),” said Jeong, explaining that the economic aid refers to Asian Development Bank and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development loans as well as Japanese aid if the two countries normalize relations.
The communist country, which has been included on a U.S. list of states that sponsor terrorism since 1988, is prevented from receiving aid, loans and investment from international financial institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
Source : www.korea.net
