Posted July. 28, 2003 21:34,
Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan suggested Monday that multilateral talks on North Koreas nuclear issue are likely to be delayed, due mainly to the slow development of the on-going negotiation between Pyongyang and Beijing. Foreign Minister Yoon said at a meeting with reporters that day, The success of the on-going negotiation between the two nations is heavily dependent on whether the North will seriously consider accepting the suggested dialogue format in which three-way talks will be held at first, expanding into multilateral talks later on. We are not in a position where we can estimate when and if multilateral talks will be resumed unless the North clarifies its position on the proposed dialogue format. All eyes in the international community are turning to the on-going talks between China and North Korea.
Meanwhile, a senior official at Chung Wa Dae clarified remarks made earlier Monday by President Roh about the status of North Korea`s nuclear development, saying that there is not ample scientific evidence to verify its nuclear weapons developmental stage. The president said in an interview with U.S. broadcasting station ABC that it was an exaggeration to say that North Korea had completed reprocessing its nuclear spent fuel rods and is very close to producing nuclear weapons. Foreign Minister Yoon added, There has been no further discussion on the issue between South Korea and the U.S. so far; there has been no change in the two nations official stances.
Commenting on the presidents remarks about giving the North a security assurance, presidential spokesman Yoon Tae-young explained, The president wanted to emphasize that the more important thing here is to give the North substantial security assurance through his remarks, and that the president believes giving the North a security guarantee in a written form is not necessarily required.
Foreign Minister Yoon also echoed the presidents statement, saying, It is an exaggeration to say that any written form of security guarantee to Pyongyang is unnecessary. Rather, the North should be given its security assurance in various forms.