Japan was skeptical yesterday about a South Korean proposal to build power lines into North Korea if it gives up its nuclear drive, saying Pyongyang has a record of not fulfilling its side of the bargain.
Japan, one of six nations in nuclear talks set to resume this month after a 13-month gap, said North Korea broke its 1994 promise to suspend nuclear facilities in exchange for reactors funded by Seoul, Tokyo and Washington.
"We want to come to the table with care so we never go through such a bitter experience again," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda, the Japanese government spokesman.
The South Korean proposal "is one of the issues to be discussed at the six-party talks," Hosoda told a news conference.
"It would be meaningless if it is implemented without the premise of North Korea abandoning its nuclear program and that being examined," he said.
South Korea said on Tuesday it had offered to lay power lines and send electricity into North Korea if it dismantles its nuclear program. The North has repeatedly demanded energy and security guarantees.
In Seoul yesterday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised South Korea's pledge of energy aid, and expressed hope for an end to the international standoff with the North.
The US and South Korea are "very optimistic that our joint efforts to improve the security situation on the Korean Peninsula could indeed bear fruit, although of course there is still much work to be done," Rice said at a news conference.
"The agreement of the North Koreans to come back to the talks is a very good step but only a first step," she said, appearing with South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon. "We look forward to a strategic decision by the North Koreans to abandon their nuclear weapons."
Seoul's new plan to deliver electricity directly to the North is "a very creative idea" and "gives an opportunity for the North Koreans to address questions of their energy needs," Rice said yesterday.
The South's main nuclear negotiator, Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon, said yesterday that he believed North Korea would agree to the deal.
"I expect them to accept this in whatever form, considering their immediate need," Song told SBS radio.
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