Kelly Says, No More Talks without Disposal of Nuclear Weapons Program

It is reported that the Bush administration informed, via Assistant Secretary James Kelly visiting South Korea on Oct. 19th, that it opposes any new initiatives of South, other than those already in progress, to improve the relations with North Korea. The US government believes that any new initiatives would not help deter North Korea`s nuclear weapons program.

On Oct. 19th, Mr. Kelly held a series of meetings with high-ranking officials such as President`s National Security Aid Lim Dong-won and Foreign Minister Choi Sung-hong. During these meetings, they discussed possible solutions of North Korea`s nuclear issue, which would be jointly announced at the Oct. 26th summit between South, Japan and US.

Mr. Kelly in a press conference held at US Embassy`s public relations office in Namyong Dong, Yongsan Gu, Seoul, said, "There will be no more talks with North unless North disposes of its enriched uranium." He also stressed, "I recalled North Korean officials how serious the nuclear problem is. I also told them that US would not repeat what it had done to North in 1994." Regarding whether the United States plans to withdraw from the 1994 arms control accord, Mr. Kelly confirmed, "US has not made any official determination of its nullification. Now, we are discussing the issue with our allies, and President George W. Bush has not yet rendered any decision on it." One South Korean official also said, "North Korea’s maintenance of nuclear weapons program fundamentally shook the trust and agreement in the accord. But the future of the accord will be determined in conferring with our allies."

Young-Sik Kim Hyung-gwon Pu spear@donga.com bookum90@donga.com