North Korea ‘hedging bets’ on nuclear issue

NORTH KOREA yesterday said future nuclear talks with America would be a waste of time if Washington insists the communist country first scrap its suspected atomic weapons programmes.

The statement came a day after US ecretary of State Colin Powell said the US was reviewing a North Korean offer to give up its missiles and nuclear facilities in exchange for substantial American economic benefits.

The North Koreans floated the proposal in talks with US envoys in the Chinese capital Beijing last week.

A senior US official said that, during the meeting, North Korea acknowledged for the first time that it had nuclear weapons and was contemplating exporting or even using them, depending on US actions.

In the Beijing talks, the US demanded North Korea first scrap its nuclear programmes before talks on possible economic and diplomatic benefits, said Pyongyang’s official newspaper Minju Joson.

“It is quite obvious that as long as the US maintains such a stand, the two sides will only waste time no matter how frequently they negotiate and such talks will not be of any help to the settlement of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula,” it said.

Striking a note contrary to earlier remarks by other US officials, Mr Powell called the meeting “quite useful” and said US officials are comparing notes with South Korea, Japan, China, Russia, Australia and others.

The North Koreans “did put forward a plan that would ultimately deal with their nuclear capability and their missile activities. But they, of course, expect something considerable in return,” Mr Powell said.

US President George W Bush has indicated that if North Korea dismantles its nuclear weapons programmes, Washington would be willing to assist it with food and energy needs.

Meanwhile, a British Foreign Office minister will today press his North Korean counterpart for details of his country’s nuclear programme.

Concern had been mounting since North Korea kicked out international nuclear watchdogs in October.

Foreign Office minister Bill Rammell said he would be pressing Choe Su Hon for the truth about the weapons programme “as a matter of priority”.

If North Korea showed the weapons do not exist or have been dismantled then “all sorts of things become possible” in terms of aid, assistance and meeting their security concerns, he said.

But Mr Rammell warned: “It really is time now for actions not words.”