U.S. urged not to raise format of talks as precondition
KCNA
Pyongyang, May 24 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea today issued the following statement clarifying its principled stand toward the issue of bilateral talks and multilateral talks on the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula:
One month has passed since the DPRK-U.S. talks on the nuclear issue were held in Beijing.
As already clarified, at the talks the DPRK put forward a new and bold proposal for simultaneously clearing up the concerns of the DPRK and the U.S., the parties concerned with the nuclear issue, prompted by the heavy responsibility and good faith to prevent a war on the Korean Peninsula and achieve durable peace and stability there at any cost.
The U.S., however, only repeated its earlier assertion that the DPRK should drop its nuclear weapons program before dialogue in a bid to force it to unilaterally disarm itself, without advancing any new proposal at the talks, and persistently avoided the discussion on the essential issues to be discussed between the DPRK and the U.S.
The U.S. has not yet said any word about the DPRK's proposal for the settlement of the nuclear issue but is talking only about the format of talks calling for the "five-party talks".
Format of talks does not present itself as an essential issue if the U.S. is truly willing to settle the problem.
The DPRK has already clarified its stand that it will not stick to any particular format of talks if the U.S. is truly ready to make a bold switchover in its Korea policy.
The nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula was spawned owing to the threat caused by the U.S. hostile policy toward the DPRK. The solution to the issue, therefore, depends on whether the U.S. has a true willingness to make a switchover in its Korea policy or not.
It is the DPRK's stand that the DPRK-U.S. talks should be held first and they may be followed by the U.S.-proposed multilateral talks.
As there are the issues to be settled between the DPRK and the U.S., the two sides are required to sit face to face for a candid discussion on each other's policies. only then, is it possible to have multilateral talks and make them fruitful.
It is clear that talks of any format will prove meaningless unless the U.S. has any willingness to make a policy switchover.
If the U.S. is truly interested in the settlement of the issue, it should not raise the format of talks as a precondition.
The U.S. adamant insistence on the multilateral talks despite the DPRK's flexible stand on holding the bilateral talks first and then multilateral talks for the sake of a reasonable settlement of the issue would only increase the suspicion of the U.S. ulterior motive.
The DPRK will never do anything unfavorable to it.
