China Urges NK to abandon Uranium Project


By Ryu Jin
Korea Times Correspondent

BEIJING _ North Korea and the United States on Wednesday engaged in a crucial negotiation on the former’s nuclear weapons program in one of the most significant two-way contacts since the nuclear standoff began in October 2002.

The meeting took place at around 4 p.m. local time and lasted for one hour on the sidelines of the second round of the six-nation conference which kicked off earlier in the morning at the Diaoyutai State Guest House in western Beijing, diplomatic officials said.

Chief U.S. delegate James Kelly pressed his North Korean counterpart Kim Gye-gwan at the informal chat to scrap the uranium-based nuclear program as well as the known plutonium-based one, according to sources.

They said the two sides engaged in tough talks regarding U.S. guarantees of security for the reclusive nation.

But the details of the talks were not made available as the participating nations agreed not to disclose the content of any dialogue until there is considerable progress.

China made its position clear that ``any kind of nuclear problem should be resolved for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.’’

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao hinted that the highly enriched uranium (HEU) program is a grave moot point.

``The HEU issue holds the key to the solution. It is of great importance how to address it.’’

The six participants, including South Korea, Japan and Russia, convened the delicate talks at around 9 a.m. with opening addresses. They laid out their positions on the touchy issue by delivering keynote speeches in turn at the five-hour-long closed-door session.

Seoul chief delegate Lee Soo-hyuck said in a press briefing that he made a three-stage proposal calling for the North to promise to make its freeze a short first-step toward the ultimate dismantling of its nuclear programs.

Lee added that Seoul also suggested the six-party talks be held every two months on working levels so as not to lose the hard-to-regain momentum. He didn’t comment on the other delegate’s positions, however, citing lack of an agreement to publicize the contents of the keynote speeches.

``The atmosphere was formal but sincere,’’ he said. ``Each nation showed a sincere and constructive attitude.’’

In its opening address, the U.S. held out hope for a ``complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantling’’ of all nuclear weapons programs, including the alleged HEU program.

North Korea is understood to have reconfirmed its strong opposition to the U.S.’ ``freeze first, compensate later’’ approach, though it has suggested that it may be able to show more flexibility in this week’s talks.

This morning, the six countries will look for common ground in the positions laid out in their keynote speeches and will try to produce the ``significant result’’ that all the participants hope can be achieved in a joint statement.

There was a pre-arranged limit of only three days for the first round of the six-party talks, but the new round has no deadline.

jinryu@koreatimes.co.kr