Roh says North not upset over

S.K.-U.S. agreement on North’s program not yet blasted by Pyongyang

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said September 28 that North Korea was aware of the proposed "joint and comprehensive approach" between South Korea and the United States to resume the six-party talks on the North’s nuclear program. However, President Roh told an MBC-TV program that North Korea has not yet responded to the approach, saying as well that "North Korea has not aggressively expressed a negative view on the matter."

North Korea’s No. 2 man, Kim Young-nam, and North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Choi Soo-heon recently said, "[The U.S.] should lift sanctions against North Korea if the six-party talks are to resume." President Roh’s comments were aimed at saying that this remark by North Korean officials was not a negative reaction on the joint and comprehensive approach.

President Roh did not reveal how North Korea was briefed on the comprehensive approach. But, he explained that the approach was formed before his visit to the U.S.

In a briefing on September 14 after the summit between President Roh Moo-hyun and his U.S. counterpart George W. Bush, South Korean Presidential Security Advisor Song Min-soon said the two nations had discussed the approach via diplomatic channels and a consultation was made with China’s Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing in late August. Song added that there was both direct and indirect information-sharing among related nations.

Roh would not disclose the details of the approach. However, he explained, "A comprehensive approach is a matter of a procedural approach. As for [the content of such an approach], it would mean a restart from the September 19 Joint Statement if the six-way talks resume."

Asked about "a job only South Korea can do" under the comprehensive approach, prior comments made by the president, Roh said, "As North Korea and the U.S. face off, the job will be difficult to achieve if we join hands with the U.S. If we join hands with North Korea to press the U.S., the U.S. won’t be a country that easily steps back. South Korea is fine-tuning with China in order to come up with a proposal that could be acceptable by both North Korea and the U.S." President Roh said South Korea is mainly persuading the U.S., while China is persuading North Korea.

Responding to criticism by conservative groups and the opposition parties over regaining wartime military control, President Roh said, "I think it’s not desirable to go the way of upsetting the apple cart." The president also clarified that regaining wartime control is a matter separate from North Korea’s possible nuclear test. "South Korea is willing to regain wartime control because we have to and we are capable of it."

The president denied media reports that he asked U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson for an early end to the U.S. investigation into Banco Delta Asia during a meeting ahead of the Seoul-Washington summit. The Macao-based bank was part of sanction efforts by the U.S. on North Korean accounts. President Roh said, “I have a hope for an early end of the U.S. probe into Banco Delta Asia, because the six-nation talks were stalled because of the investigation. So, I asked to [Paulson] about why it was taking so long and when it will come to an end. In response, [Paulson said] there are many cases that have taken a longer time," Roh said, adding that Paulson asked him not to presume that there are any special intentions regarding the investigation.

President Roh also joked to Paulson that if South Korean prosecutors handle the case, they will finish it earlier than the U.S. "That was the level of our talks. Can this be viewed as a kind of request?"

In addition, President Roh denied claims that he asked the U.S. president to suspend further sanctions against North Korea, saying, "I didn’t raise the issue during our official talks."