DPRK FM spokesman on U.S. rumor about dialogue
KCNA
Pyongyang, January 15 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry gave an answer to a question raised by KCNA today as regards the rumor about " dialogue" with the DPRK spread by the united states recently in a bid to mislead the public opinion. He said:
Some high-ranking officials of the U.S. were reported to have said that the U.S. has willingness to have dialogue with the DPRK and discuss the matters of energy and food aid if the latter scraps its "nuclear weapon development program".
In this regard, some of the world community have shown impromptu views that the U.S. made a switchover in its position from its stand of denying dialogue and compensation to that of expressing its willingness to do so.
But, in essence, there is no change in the U.S. conditional stand that it would have dialogue with the DPRK only after it scraps its "nuclear program" . It is clear that the U.S. talk about dialogue is nothing but a deceptive drama to mislead the world public opinion.
It has been evidenced by the oft-repeated remarks made by a spokesman for the white house on January 14 that the U.S. would not negotiate with North Korea but would have a dialogue to discuss the issue of urging it to fulfil its commitments.
We prudently examined the matter of dialogue raised in the Jan. 7 joint statement of the U.S., Japan and South Korea for the first time, and made its utmost efforts to have dialogue with the U.S. side.
Until the day before the DPRK government's statement was published on January 10 we seriously dealt with the U.S. "willingness" for dialogue conveyed by a third country and directly got in touch with the U.S. State Department through a New York channel for DPRK-U.S. contacts.
However, what we heard from the U.S. side was simple words that the U.S. had nothing to say about the resumption of dialogue.
To cite one more example, the U.S. has often said that it would not link the humanitarian matter to the political issue, but, after the nuclear issue was raised, craftily put up such preconditions as opening all parts of the DPRK in a bid to invent a pretext for stopping food aid to the DPRK.
By such preconditions the U.S. meant in a word that food aid would be possible only when the DPRK opens its military objects sensitive from the viewpoint of national security to the outside world.
As seen above, the U.S. loudmouthed supply of energy and food aid are like a painted cake pie in the sky as they are possible only after the DPRK is totally disarmed.
The U.S. assertion that negotiations for conclusion of a non-aggression treaty and economic aid are possible only when the DPRK unilaterally lays down its arms is against common sense as the DPRK and the U.S. are now standing in the most acute military confrontation. It is, in essence, a stand of denying dialogue and negotiations.
Such contradictory remarks made by the authorities of the U.S. administration prove that they seek to gain time for some other purpose and, therefrom, resort to false propaganda to fool the DPRK and the world public.
It is the consistent stand of the DPRK to settle the issue on an equal footing through fair negotiations that may clear both sides of their concerns.
We have already clarified that the DPRK is ready to solve the nuclear issue through negotiations on condition that the U.S. recognizes the DPRK's sovereignty, assures it of non-aggression and does not obstruct its economic development.
Nobody will be taken in by any tricks employed by the bush administration. The U.S. can never evade the blame for the present crisis unless it makes a fundamental switchover in its hostile policy towards the DPRK.
