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Sophism of U.S. and KEDO about "Fate" of LWRs under Fire

Korean Central News Agency of DPRK

    Pyongyang, June 3 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry today gave the following answer to the question put by KCNA in connection with the recent talk made by the U.S. and the KEDO about the "fate" of LWRs: U.S. high-ranking officials recently said the U.S. made it clear that there was no prospect of the LWR construction and there can be no concession such as the resumption of the LWR construction. It was against this backdrop that an executive council meeting of the KEDO held a few days ago announced that member states of the council have not reached a consensus of views on whether the LWR construction would be resumed after December 1 2004 when the period of its temporary suspension will expire.
    It is well known that the Bush administration announced the measure to stop the provision of heavy oil to the DPRK on November 14, 2002 under the pretext of the non-existent issue of "enriched uranium program" and halted the LWR construction on December 1, 2003.
    In this regard the DPRK, considering that the Bush administration unilaterally and completely scrapped the DPRK-U.S. Agreed Framework adopted in October 1994, took a corresponding measure and additional measures are now expected to be taken.
    Frankly speaking, we have never thought that the Bush administration steeped in hostility toward the DPRK to the marrow of its bone would bring the LWR construction to a completion.
    The point is why the U.S. is now talking about the issue of LWR construction again though it is long since it discarded the issue by itself.
    Needless to say, the Bush administration was prompted by a sinister attempt to evade the responsibility for having unilaterally scrapped the Agreed Framework.
    The U.S. is grossly mistaken.
    The DPRK will certainly settle accounts with the U.S. which unilaterally pulled out of the AF.
    The LWR issue taught a serious lesson to the DPRK.
    There can be no relationship based on confidence with the U.S. administration as it scrapped the AF whose core issue is the provision of LWRs, throwing away the document signed by its president like a pair of old shoes.
    It is necessary to settle any issue with the U.S. through an one-to-one agreement on the principle of simultaneous actions.
    That was why the DPRK put forward a formula calling for a simultaneous package solution to the nuclear issue and a "reward for freeze" proposal as the first phase action.
    The Bush administration would be advised to see how the international community is censuring the U.S. for its non-compliance with international commitments. Then, it may come to realize the fact itself and sympathize with the DPRK's fair and aboveboard proposal.