The US, Japan and South Korea urged North Korea yesterday to return to nuclear disarmament talks without delay, indicating they would not give the communist state any rewards before the negotiations resume.
The three allies also urged China -- North Korea's last remaining major ally and key supplier of energy and trade -- to play a bigger role in persuading the North that returning to the talks was in its interest.
The unified stance was forged when top negotiators from the three allies met in Seoul to discuss how to deal with North Korea's recent announcement that it has nuclear weapons and was boycotting six-nation talks aimed at ending its nuclear weapons ambitions.
"We agreed to urge North Korea to return to the meeting without delay so that it can have wide-ranging discussions on matters of its concern and all other issues," South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon told reporters after yesterday's meeting.
The meeting, the first of its kind since the North's Feb. 10 announcement, were also attended by Kenichiro Sasae, director-general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asia-Oceania bureau; and Christopher Hill, the US ambassador to Seoul who has been named Washington's top negotiator in the North Korean nuclear dispute.
Hill declined to make comments, except calling Saturday's consultations an "excellent meeting."
But Sasae told reporters that North Korea must rejoin the talks "without any conditions."
Such a position appeared to rebuff North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. Kim told a visiting Chinese envoy on Monday that his government would return to the negotiating table if certain conditions are met and the US show sincerity and take concrete actions.
North Korea is believed to be seeking concessions in return for returning to the six-nation talks, which also include Russia and China. The US, however, says no rewards should be given just for coming to the negotiating table.
Asked whether the allies would meet Kim's conditions, Song repeated that North Korea can discuss its demands -- but it must first come to the negotiating table.
Song said the allies expressed "serious concern" about the North's announcement.
The three allies "expect China to strengthen its efforts for an early resumption of the talks," he said.
A senior Chinese Communist Party leader, Wang Jiarui, met with Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang on Monday. Afterward, China and South Korea urged both the US and North Korea to be more flexible in the two-year-old nuclear standoff.
Japan's Kyodo News Agency, citing multiple anonymous sources, reported that China has asked Japan to convince the US to be more flexible.
But, Hill has insisted on "coordinated" actions, warning that Pyongyang could try to exploit divisions among the participants of the multilateral discussions.
Since 2003, Beijing has hosted three rounds of six-party negotiations, with little progress reported. A fourth round scheduled for last September never took place because North Korea refused to attend, citing what it called a "hostile" US policy.
In previous talks, North Korea has demanded more aid and a nonaggression treaty with Washington in exchange for giving up its nuclear programs.
The US, meanwhile, wants the North to dismantle all nuclear facilities immediately.
RSS