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Five-Way Talks on NK Nukes Due Next Month

2003-06-11

Five-way talks comprising South Korea, North Korea, the United States, Japan and China to discuss the lengthy impasse over North Korea's nuclear weapons program will be held next month at the earliest, according to diplomatic sources on Tuesday (June 10).

"We are willing to accept the multilateral talks to discuss ways to resolve the North Korean nuclear standoff," said a senior official at the Foreign Affairs-Trade Ministry.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said Monday during his visit to Japan that the five-country meeting will take place in July or August, adding that he saw "fair" prospects to launch talks that would include South Korea and Japan.

President Roh Moo-hyun yesterday accented the need to settle the North Korean nuclear issue through dialogue, saying, "Resolution through means other than dialogue will bring about many problems."

Five-country talks on North Korea and its nuclear ambitions could well take place within a month or two at the latest, Japan's Kyodo News Agency quoted Armitage as saying.

Kyodo quoted Armitage as saying the chances for the five-way discussion had become more likely because Pyongyang's opposition to that format appeared to be steadily weakening.

He said North Korea won't be able to ignore the format once China conveys the stance to the reclusive nation.

"We are open to the five-way meeting," Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Yoon Tai-young told The Korea Times.

He clarified that Seoul should take part in the future dialogue as it will have to take charge of possible economic assistance to North Korea as a result of the nuclear negotiations.

"We will not be so foolish as only to bear the burden of providing assistance to the North without being able to participate in the dialogue," he said.

Senior officials from Seoul, Washington and Tokyo will get together for the Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group (TCOG) meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, on June 12-13 to discuss the North Korean nuclear issue.

Officials said the TCOG meeting is expected to adopt a joint statement calling for the opening of multilateral talks including Seoul and Tokyo.

Another official at the Foreign Affairs-Trade Ministry said, "We are not opposed to the five-way talks as the United States and Japan are adamant on such format."

The government's stance is a shift from the earlier one that Seoul will not dictate the format of dialogue because what is more important is to maintain the dialogue momentum created by the trilateral meeting held in Beijing in April.

"Our stance toward sustaining the dialogue momentum has not changed at all. We have been holding a flexible attitude with regard to the dialogue pattern," said the ministry official on condition of anonymity.

He added that agreeing to the multilateral format does not necessarily mean sticking to the five-way dialogue.

North Korea has been insisting on direct bilateral talks with the U.S. excluding the possibility of multilateral talks, but has been showing signs of changing its policy.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has taken a tough stance regarding the North Korean nuclear issue, preferring to put pressure on the reclusive nation to dialogue and urging Tokyo and Seoul to be included in the future nuclear talks.

In contrast, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said Seoul put more weight on dialogue than on pressure although both measures need to be pursued simultaneously.

Source : www.korea.net