North Korea refuses nuclear talks

THE chief North Korean delegate to talks with South Korea hinted yesterday he was unwilling to discuss his country’s suspected nuclear weapons

The comments by Kim Ryong Song raised doubts about whether South Korea would be able to make headway in urging the North to drop its nuclear programmes at the four-day talks.

“Let’s not care about the situation surrounding us and concentrate on resolving internal issues,” Kim said after arriving with his delegation.

He appeared to be referring to the original agenda of the talks, which includes inter-Korean reconciliation plans such as the construction of cross-border railways and roads.

Hours earlier, a top US official arrived in Seoul from Beijing to discuss ways to pressure North Korea over its nuclear development.

US Undersecretary of State John Bolton, who handles arms control and international security, said the goal was to bring the matter before the UN Security Council.

North Korea has argued that the dispute about what it calls “the nuclear issue” is with the United States and does not involve South Korea or other nations.

The communist country says it will resolve Washington’s security concerns if it signs a nonaggression pact and does not block the North’s economic development, a phrase that likely means it wants energy and other aid for its moribund economy.

The chief South Korean delegate, Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun, hosted a dinner at the upscale hotel where Kim and his 29-member entourage are staying, and the two men earlier exchanged diplomatic pleasantries that masked the tension on their divided peninsula.

“As we march along together, several problems have popped up all of a sudden,” Jeong said. “We must resolve them wisely, thus removing concerns among our people."

South Korean Prime Minister Kim Suk-soo was more direct, saying to the North Korean visitors at the banquet: “The agreement to keep the Korean Peninsula nuclear-free must be observed without fail.”

Tensions escalated in October when the US said the North acknowledged having a secret nuclear programme in violation of a 1994 agreement.

In Seoul, the North Korean delegation released a statement that appealed for solidarity with South Korea in what appeared to be the latest attempt to drive a wedge in the South’s alliance with the US.