South Korea and the U.S. have agreed to consider "additional, resilient measures" for North Korea if the communist country responds favorably to a set of "bold" U.S. proposals on its nuclear program, Seoul's top diplomat said Sunday.
Returning from a trip to Washington where he met with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other top U.S. officials, South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon said he expects North Korea to disclose its response to the U.S. proposals during the next round of six-nation talks.
The latest round of the six-party talks in Beijing in December, which involve the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia, ended without a breakthrough.
No date for the next meeting has been set but U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Friday that there were "signals" that the talks could resume later this month.
"In the latest session, the U.S. presented various flexible measures, and North Korea went back home with the proposals. I think the North will bring its response to the next round," Song told reporters at Incheon International Airport.
Song indicated that South Korea and the U.S. are willing to provide enhanced incentives if Pyongyang agrees to take steps as required by a Sept. 19, 2005 joint statement in which Pyongyang pledged to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for economic aid and security guarantees.
He declined to elaborate, saying only that the additional incentives would "reflect what North Korean wants to get."
In the latest round of six-nation talks in Beijing, the U.S. specifically asked North Korea to show its sincerity by freezing its only operational plutonium-producing 5-megawatt nuclear reactor, declare all of its nuclear-related programs and shut down its underground nuclear test site.
North Korea insisted that it would not discuss its nuclear issue before the U.S. lifts financial sanctions imposed on it over its alleged currency counterfeiting and other illegal activities.
Financial officials of both sides met on the sidelines of the nuclear talks in Beijing but failed to find a solution. They agreed to meet again in New York but no date has been set for the meeting.
Song expected the meeting to be held before the end of this month.
"No date has been fixed yet, but I was told North Korea and the U.S. have provisionally reached a compromise to hold it in the week starting on Jan. 22," he said. "I think it will take place around that time."
North Korea is also under U.N. financial and weapons-related sanctions for its underground nuclear test on Oct. 9. U.S. television network ABC reported last week that there were signs the North was preparing a second nuclear test. South and U.S. officials denied it.
Seoul, Jan. 7 (Yonhap News)
Seoul, Washington can be more resilient on N. Korean nuke: foreign minister |
