North Korea denies nuclear weapons plans

North Korea today said it has no intention of making nuclear weapons and repeated Pyongyang’s position that the stand-off can be resolved through dialogue with the US, officials said.

“We made it clear that inter-Korean relations could be hurt unless the nuclear issue is not resolved promptly,” South Korean delegate Rhee Bong-jo said after hour-long talks with North Korean officials in Seoul. “North Korea stressed that it has no intention of making nuclear weapons.”

The Cabinet-level talks, along with three other sets of inter-Korean meetings this week, continue contacts started by a North-South summit in June 2000. They are the highest-level regular contacts between the two countries.

South Korea’s chief delegate, Jeong Se-hyun, demanded in a keynote speech that the North freeze its nuclear facilities and reverse its decision to quit the global nuclear non-proliferation treaty, Rhee told reporters.

The chief North Korean negotiator, Kim Ryong Song, said Pyongyang has no intention of making nuclear weapons and that the dispute can be resolved through dialogue, he said.

Rhee said South Korea will continue to raise the issue during the remainder of the talks, which continue through Friday.

There were no more formal meetings scheduled for today, though informal contacts were expected.

The North Koreans were to visit an amusement park in southern Seoul later in the day.

The North Koreans arrived in Seoul yesterday for the first Cabinet-level talks since October, hinting that they wanted to focus on inter-Korean reconciliation projects rather than the nuclear issue.

“Let’s ... concentrate on resolving internal issues,” said Kim, the North Korean negotiator.

The contacts come amid a flurry of international diplomatic activities to resolve the North’s nuclear dispute peacefully. Pyongyang’s long-time allies - Russia and China – as well as other countries support a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.

Pyongyang insists the dispute is purely with Washington and does not involve other nations.

US Under-secretary of State John Bolton, in Seoul for a three-day visit, met foreign minister Choi Sung-hong and other top South Korean national security officials on today.

Upon arrival at Incheon International Airport, Mr Bolton said yesterday that the US wants to bring the North’s nuclear issue before the UN Security Council.

He did not specify what Washington would like the Security Council to do. US officials earlier considered economic penalties against North Korea, but have dropped that option for now, at least publicly.

Tensions escalated in October when the US said North Korea admitted having a secret nuclear programme in violation of a 1994 agreement. The US and its allies suspended oil shipments to the North and Pyongyang responded by expelling UN inspectors and preparing to reactivate facilities from an older nuclear programme.

South Korea is in an awkward position, trying to coax North Korea into abandoning its nuclear activities even though US officials have shown a distaste for dialogue with the North. But the US has softened its position recently, saying it is willing to talk and would consider economic aid for the North if it gives up its nuclear plans.