North Korea Nuclear Talks Possible Within Weeks, says Tony Blair
VOA News
22 Jul 2003, 13:00 UTC
Chinese leaders have indicated that a new round of talks on North Korea's nuclear development program might take place within weeks.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair relayed the information to reporters on Tuesday, following talks with Chinese leaders in Beijing. He did not say what countries might take place in those proposed talks.
China has tried in recent weeks to organize negotiations between North Korea and the United States. The renewed diplomatic activity comes amid continuing indications that North Korea wants to restart the nuclear weapons program it agreed to freeze in 1994.
Meanwhile, a report in The Washington Post newspaper says the United States is considering offering guarantees of non-aggression to North Korea if it abandons its nuclear ambitions. The Post cites U.S. officials as saying a top Chinese official, Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo, was asked to convey the U.S. proposal to North Korea.
Pyongyang says it wants to hold one-on-one talks with the United States and will only give up nuclear weapons if Washington ends what North Korea calls "hostile" policies.
Earlier this month, U.S. officials quoted North Korea as saying it had reprocessed enough nuclear fuel to build six nuclear weapons. But South Korean officials have cast doubt on reports of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons capacity.
Some information for this report provided by Reuters and AP.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
