N Korea 'disappointed' at US

2003-06-02 08:43

Seoul - North Korea says it has nearly completed reprocessing 8 000 spent nuclear fuel rods and is disappointed the United States has not responded to its "bold" plan to defuse the nuclear crisis, a US Congress delegation said on Monday.

The impression was gathered at talks between North Korean parliamentary speaker Kim Yong-Nam and Republican Curt Weldon who led a six-member US delegation last week to the Stalinist state.

North Korea's number two official "expressed disappointment" that bilateral talks with the United States had yet to start over the crisis, Weldon said at a news conference after the May 30-June 1 visit to Pyongyang.

"They also expressed disappointment...that we have not yet responded to what they categorised as their bold initiatives," he said.

At talks with the United States and China in Beijing in April, North Korea allegedly said it already had nuclear weapons and began reprocessing fuel rods for more atomic bombs, but offered to ditch its nuclear and missile programs in return for significant economic and diplomatic benefits through negotiations.

Washington has rebuffed Pyongyang's offer for bilateral talks while vowing not to give in to what it calls North Korean blackmail.

But Weldon, vice-chairperson of the US House Armed Services Committee, and other five US lawmakers - three Democrats and two Republicans - called for addressing the nuclear crisis in a "very short period of time".

"It's got to be short because the nuclear time clock is ticking in the North as they develop weapons," Weldon warned.

He said both foreign minister Paek Nam-Sun and Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok-Ju reaffirmed their nuclear ambitions during the recent talks in Pyongyang.

He said: "They admitted to having nuclear capability and weapons at the moment. They admitted to having just about completed the reprocessing of 8 000 rods. They admitted to an effort to expand their nuclear reproduction program."

But Weldon said he could see "a window of opportunity" to resolve the standoff when vice-foreign minister Kang reacted positively when he presented "some ideas" which include an natural gas supply to the energy-starved North from Russia.

North Korea wants a US guarantee for its regime's security most, while accusing the United States of planning a military strike to settle the nuclear stand-off.

The crisis began with the US disclosure in October last year that North Korea had admitted to pursuing nuclear weapons despite a 1994 accord to freeze its nuclear programme.

Since then, North Korea has upped the ante by expelling UN nuclear inspectors, restarting its mothballed nuclear reactor that can produce weapons grade plutonium and test-launching missiles.

In late April, North Korea said it had made a "bold" proposal to resolve the nuclear crisis in talks with the United States in Beijing, but that Washington had dodged the essential issues.

It was understood to be an offer to scrap its nuclear weapons in return for diplomatic, political and economic concessions.

- AFX