N Korea: Danger of nuclear war
2003-01-08 08:20
Seoul - North Korea accused the United States Wednesday of increasing
the danger of a nuclear war on the peninsula hours after Washington
offered to hold talks to end their ongoing standoff.
"There is an increasing danger of a nuclear war on the Korean
peninsula due to the US criminal policy toward the DPRK (North
Korea)," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
"The US is deliberately spreading a false rumour about the
DPRK's 'nuclear issue', in particular, in a bid to vitiate the
atmosphere of inter-Korean reconciliation and unity and foster
confrontation among Koreans."
The KCNA commentary was the first word from Pyongyang since the
United States offered to hold talks with North Korea over their
ongoing nuclear standoff.
The US said Tuesday it was willing to talk to North Korea but
warned the cash-starved communist state would get no new incentives
to halt its nuclear programs.
President George W Bush's administration had previously
rejected all dialogue until North Korea halted its two alleged
nuclear weapons programs.
"The US delegation explained that the United States is willing
to talk to North Korea about how it will meet its obligations to
the international community," said a statement released at talks
among senior US, Japanese and South Korean diplomats in Washington.
'No quid pro quos'
"However the US delegation stressed that the United States will
not provide quid pro quos for North Korea to live up to its
existing obligations."
The State Department said it had informed North Korea directly
of its willingness to pursue talks by handing over a copy of the
statement to Pyongyang's diplomatic representatives at the United
Nations.
South Korea said after the talks in Washington that it was on
board with US strategy to defuse the nuclear showdown.
Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Tae-shik, who was leading the
delegation from Seoul, said that both sides were resolved on how to
move forward.
"We are pretty much in line with each other in terms of how we
are going to deal with the situation," Lee said at a press
conference.
Lee said it was up to North Korea to make the first move towards
ending the crisis.
"Since the problem has been caused by the DPRK it is more than
fair enough that North Korea should take first steps in the positive
direction to lay the ground for satisfactory solutions."
South Korea, which had previously criticised a US plan to
isolate North Korea until it halted its nuclear programs, has been
floating a compromise deal to end the standoff after consulting
with Pyongyang's closest allies, China and Russia.
The US offer for talks was being seen as a diplomatic coup for
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il whose regime was labelled part of
an "axis of evil" by Bush last year.
"In oriental society ... people consider face-saving as more
important than practical benefits at times so on his part, he has
gained from it (the US offer to talk)," said Yoon Young-O, an
expert in North Korean affairs at Seoul's Kookmin University.
Diplomacy would prevail
Bush insisted late Tuesday that he believed diplomacy would
prevail as he batted away criticism of double standards in dealing
with the crises in Iraq and North Korea.
"In this case, I believe that by working with countries in the
region, diplomacy will work," Bush said in Chicago.
"We have no aggressive intent, no argument with the North Korean
people. We're interested in peace on the Korean Peninsula," said
Bush.
The crisis was sparked by North Korea's decision to reactivate
the plutonium-producing Yongbyon complex, mothballed since a 1994
agreement with the United States.
Washington has also accused North Korea of embarking on a
separate nuclear weapons drive based on enriched uranium, a charge
denied by Pyongyang. -Sapa-AFP
- SAPA