Suspicion clouds North Korea nuke talks

THE Bush administration says it will seek a diplomatic solution to the stand-off over North Korea’s suspected nuclear weapons programmes. But the communist nation’s leaders routinely accuse Washington of plotting their downfall.

That apparent conflict creates a backdrop of suspicion as officials from the US, North Korea and China prepare to hold talks in Beijing today. “The US is getting frantic with its nuclear racket to isolate and stifle” North Korea, the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary yesterday.

A change of leadership in North Korea is not official US policy, and South Korea, a close ally of Washington, would strongly oppose such a goal because it could risk social upheaval and military conflict.

Adding to the debate over US intentions, The New York Times reported this week on a Pentagon memorandum recommending the US join with China to press diplomatically for the ousting of North Korea’s leadership. The newspaper said the classified memo was circulated among key members of the Bush administration, and was drafted by officials who oppose talks that could end up benefiting North Korea economically.

The New York Times said the memo seemed at odds with the State Department approach of convincing North Korean leader Kim Jong Il that Washington does not intend to oust him. Critics of the Pentagon approach say it is absurd to expect China, a traditional North Korean ally, to join a US-led effort to topple Kim.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a South Korean official said he was concerned the memo report could undermine the talks in Beijing on North Korea’s suspected nuclear weapons programmes.

“It could have a negative impact,” the official said. “Leaking such a serious comment on the North Korean regime will threaten the meeting.”

Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly is leading the American delegation to the talks, which includes military and US Defence Department officials. US diplomats said they are aimed at achieving a “verifiable, irreversible end to North Korea’s nuclear programme”.

President George W Bush, who described North Korea as part of an “axis of evil” along with Iraq and Iran, gave diplomatic pressure a “good chance” of persuading the North to give up its nuclear ambitions.

“Step one is for North Korea to rectify the situation and give up its nuclear weapons programme,” Thomas Hubbard, the US ambassador in Seoul, said yesterday.

Some US officials believe North Korea is unwilling to abandon its nuclear capabilities and only a change of government in Pyongyang will solve the problem. If international diplomacy fails, economic containment and even the threat of force could emerge as ways to pressure North Korea, and destabilise its government.

“The Bush administration at this point doesn’t have a single ‘ultimate aim’ for North Korea,” said Robert Einhorn, a former US State Department expert on Korea who is now with the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC. “Some (in the administration) undoubtedly believe North Korea’s nuclear threat cannot be ended short of regime change,” he said.