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N Korea links talks to sanctions
01/11/2006 09:53 - (SA)
Seoul - North Korea confirmed on Wednesday it would return to six-nation nuclear disarmament talks if the issue of lifting US financial sanctions is settled during the negotiations.
The announcement that Pyongyang had agreed to return to the negotiating table came late on Tuesday in Beijing, less than a month after the reclusive communist state stunned the world with its first atom bomb test.
North Korea's decision to rejoin the talks, which it had boycotted since November over the sanctions issue, was welcomed by world leaders but also greeted with some scepticism.
"The DPRK (North Korea) decided to return to the six-party talks on the premise that the issue of lifting financial sanctions will be discussed and settled between the DPRK and the US within the framework of the six-party talks," the North Korean foreign ministry said.
Christopher Hill, the lead US representative to the talks, said on Tuesday in Beijing that he had told North Korean envoy Kim Kye-Gwan that Washington was willing to consider the matter.
"They made very clear that these were not conditions but they wanted to hear that we would address the issue of the financial measures in the context of the talks," Hill said after talks with Kim and Chinese envoy Wu Dawei.
"And I said we would be prepared to create a mechanism or working group and to address these financial issues."
But he added: "As someone who has been involved in this, I have not broken out the cigars and the champagne quite yet."
Talks ended over US sanctions
The six-way talks - which began in 2003 - bring together North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.
North Korea agreed in September 2005 to scrap its nuclear programmes in exchange for energy and security guarantees.
But it walked out of the negotiations two months later in protest at unilateral US sanctions aimed at blocking its access to the international banking system.
Pyongyang sparked the ire of the international community in July when it test-fired seven missiles, a move that prompted weapons-related UN sanctions.
Last month's underground nuclear test earned the North global scorn and led the UN security council to slap another round of financial, trade and military sanctions on Pyongyang.
US President George W Bush led international praise for the news from Beijing of a diplomatic breakthrough, saying he was "very pleased with the progress made".
South Korean Prime Minister Han Myeong-Sook hailed the decision as "a positive sign of change in North Korea's attitude" - an opinion echoed by the government of new Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
- AFP
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