Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=5/14/04

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=NOKOR TALKS (L O)

NUMBER=2-315902

BYLINE=LUIS RAMIREZ

DATELINE=BEIJING

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

/// EDS: UPDATE INTRO WHEN TALKS END ///

INTRO: North Korea is expressing frustration with U-S officials' refusal to discuss economic aid during this week's multi-party talks in Beijing. As V-O-A' Luis Ramirez reports from the Chinese capital, this is just one of the serious differences persisting in six-nation talks on dismantling North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

TEXT: The North Korean delegation came to the Beijing talks hoping to secure promises of immediate aid from the United States and four other nations, which insist Pyongyang dismantle its nuclear weapons program in a complete, irreversible and verifiable manner.

Since the nuclear dispute surfaced in October 2002, the United States has consistently ruled out aid until North Korea complies with its various international agreements to be nuclear-free.

But on Friday -- the third day of working-level negotiations in the Chinese capital -- North Korean delegation member Park Myong-kuk hastily called reporters to the gates of North Korea's embassy in Beijing and read a statement -- through a translator -- expressing frustration with the U-S stance.

/// PARK ACT IN KOREAN, UNDER TRANSLATOR ///

We had expected the United States to talk differently about what kind of reciprocal measures it and other countries would take if we freeze our nuclear program. But, the United States repeated the same position as the previous talks that such a decision is possible only when we commit to complete, verifiable, and irreversible dismantlement.

/// END ACT ///

The official called the demand a "humiliating" measure typically imposed only on a nation defeated in war.

/// OPT /// The deeply impoverished communist North Korea is struggling to recover from an economic collapse caused by natural disasters and mismanagement. /// END OPT ///

Washington has said it will not reward North Korea for merely fulfilling its obligations under non-proliferation agreements that it has signed in the past -- including a 1994 agreement with the United States for which North Korea received aid.

/// OPT /// Politics Professor Xue Mouhong of China's Xian Jiaotong University says it will be difficult to break the impasse.

/// XUE ACT /// OPT ///

I'm not too optimistic about the outcome of either the working group meeting or the third six-party conference because they will be deadlocked on the conditions between the two sides. The U-S insists on complete, irreversible dismantlement and North Korea will never accept that. It's a deadlock.

/// END ACT /// END OPT ///

Officials at the six-way talks are hoping to come up with an agenda for the next round of high-level negotiations, which are expected to open next month. China has been providing a venue for the meetings, which involve North Korea, the United States, Russia, Japan and South Korea. (SIGNED)

NEB/HK/LR/JJ/KL