South Korea opposes discussion of its controversial atomic experiments at six-nation talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons drive, a senior official said yesterday.
Chung Woo-Seong, advisor to President Roh Moo-Hyun on foreign affairs, said the recently revealed experiments in 1982 and 2000 were merely on a laboratory scale and the government had no role in them.
"These experiments have no relevance to the six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear program," Chung said on a radio talk show.
"The experiments were merely on a laboratory scale and the government had no roles in the experiment," Chung said by phone on the MBC radio talk show from Moscow. Chung is accompanying Roh, who is visiting Russia.
Chung said Roh had explained this to President Vladimir Putin and briefed him on South Korea's renewed promise not to develop or possess nuclear weapons. Putin expressed his "understanding," according to Chung.
China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan reportedly said Tuesday that the nuclear experiments by South Korea should also be on the table at the six-nation talks.
Investigators from the UN nuclear watchdog began a week-long investigation into the experiments on Monday after Seoul renewed a pledge never to develop atomic weapons.
Earlier this month, as a first team of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors was visiting South Korea, the government revealed that its scientists secretly enriched a small amount of uranium in 2000.
Then came revelations that scientists had extracted a tiny amount of plutonium in 1982.
South Korea insisted the experiments were not linked to nuclear weapons programs. IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei, however, expressed "serious concern" about the activities.
The new inspection team will report back to the Vienna-based IAEA by November after interviewing scientists engaged in nuclear experiments.
A senior official of the ruling Uri Party said South Korea would go the extra mile to ensure transparency in its nuclear activities.
"South Korea is ready to stand naked before inspections," Chun Jung-Bae, majority leader of the National Assembly, told reporters.
On Saturday South Korea made a fresh pledge that it would not develop or possess nuclear weapons but would pursue scientific research transparently.
The case, however, has already damaged multilateral efforts to persuade Stalinist North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons programs.
Pyongyang's official KCNA news agency warned Saturday that the communist country would not abandon its nuclear ambitions. It also said North Korea would not attend the six-nation talks on its nuclear program unless South Korea cleared up suspicions over its nuclear experiments.
A fourth round of the six-nation talks was scheduled for this month but China has admitted it would be difficult to hold them by the end of September as planned.
Apart from the two Koreas, the talks include China, the US, Russia and Japan.
MONEY GRAB: People were rushing to collect bills scattered on the ground after the plane transporting money crashed, which an official said hindered rescue efforts A cargo plane carrying money on Friday crashed near Bolivia’s capital, damaging about a dozen vehicles on highway, scattering bills on the ground and leaving at least 15 people dead and others injured, an official said. Bolivian Minister of Defense Marcelo Salinas said the Hercules C-130 plane was transporting newly printed Bolivian currency when it “landed and veered off the runway” at an airport in El Alto, a city adjacent to La Paz, before ending up in a nearby field. Firefighters managed to put out the flames that engulfed the aircraft. Fire chief Pavel Tovar said at least 15 people died, but
LIKE FATHER, LIKE DAUGHTER: By showing Ju-ae’s ability to handle a weapon, the photos ‘suggest she is indeed receiving training as a successor,’ an academic said North Korea on Saturday released a rare image of leader Kim Jong-un’s teenage daughter firing a rifle at a shooting range, adding to speculation that she is being groomed as his successor. Kim’s daughter, Ju-ae, has long been seen as the next in line to rule the secretive, nuclear-armed state, and took part in a string of recent high-profile outings, including last week’s military parade marking the closing stages of North Korea’s key party congress. Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) released a photo of Ju-ae shooting a rifle at an outdoor shooting range, peering through a rifle scope
India and Canada yesterday reached a string of agreements, including on critical mineral cooperation and a “landmark” uranium supply deal for nuclear power, the countries’ leaders said in New Delhi. The pacts, which also covered technology and promoting the use of renewable energy, were announced after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hailed a fresh start in the relationship between their nations. “Our ties have seen a new energy, mutual trust and positivity,” Modi said. Carney’s visit is a key step forward in ties that effectively collapsed in 2023 after Ottawa accused New Delhi
Gaza is rapidly running out of its limited fuel supply and stocks of food staples might become tight, officials said, after Israel blocked the entry of fuel and goods into the war-shattered territory, citing fighting with Iran. The Israeli military closed all Gaza border crossings on Saturday after announcing airstrikes on Iran carried out jointly with the US. Israeli authorities late on Monday night said that they would reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel to Gaza yesterday, for “gradual entry of humanitarian aid” into the strip, without saying how much. Israeli authorities previously said the crossings could not be operated safely during
RSS