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Allies Wait for NK Response to Joint Proposal

2003-12-12

A joint proposal put forward by South Korea, the United States and Japan to end the nuclear crisis had been delivered to North Korea by China, Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun said on Thursday (Dec. 11).

"The contents of the proposal were sent to China and relayed to North Korea," Jeong said in a weekly briefing.

Jeong did not specify when the joint plan was sent, but officials said Pyongyang was likely aware of the gist of the proposal when it issued a Foreign Ministry statement Tuesday. In the statement, North Korea said it would cease its nuclear weapons program in return for concessions from the United States.

The participating countries of the six-way talks are awaiting a reaction from North Korea. The nature of the reaction will decide whether talks can resume before the year's end.

"To determine whether there is talks (within December) or not, I think we have to wait at least one or two days," said Wi Sung-lac, director-general of North American Affairs Bureau at the Foreign Ministry.

Although time is running short, Jeong said it is technically possible to hold the second talks next week as the related countries have been active in laying the foundation for it through active negotiations.

The statement North Korean Foreign Ministry sent Tuesday claimed it would freeze the nuclear program, if the U.S. takes conciliatory measures. Jeong, Seoul's chief negotiator in talks with Pyongyang, said the statement is a thinly disguised way of saying it wants to come to talks.

Wi said U.S. President George W. Bush's refusal to accept the North Korean nuclear freeze is a reinstatement of its principles. Whereas the U.S. was talking about its ultimate goals, the North was talking about the first step it wants both sides to take.

The joint proposal is a byproduct of intense negotiations between the trio in Washington last week. The coordinated steps it calls for is seen as a compromise between the North Korean demands for a simultaneous action and the U.S. demand for successive actions.

Source : www.korea.net