North Korea Announces It Has No Intention of Developing Nuke Weapons

At the 9th minister-level talks between the two Koreas, Kim Young-sung, who leads the North Korean delegation, said yesterday, "North Korea has no intention of developing nuclear weapons."

In his keynote speech at the 1st full session held yesterday morning at Sheraton Walker Hill Hotel in Seoul, Kim alleged, "Our withdrawal from the Nonproliferation Treaty is a legitimate action to defend ourselves from the strangling policies of the United States and unjust treatments by the IAEA." Then, he announced, "At this stage, our nuclear activities will be limited to peaceful purposes including generation of electricity."

South Korean delegation’s spokesperson Lee Bong-joh, who is also a senior official of the Unification Ministry, evaluated, "This time, North showed a changed attitude. I think the change paves the way for further talks."

Prior to the statement, South Korean chief delegate Chung Se-hyun said in his keynote address, "The relationship between South and North Korea may be affected if the the nuclear problem remains unresolved." Then, he urged, "North Korea should unequivocally promise to abandon its nuclear weapons program. In addition, it should restore all the inspection devices that have been removed, and should immediately undo its declared withdrawal from the Nonproliferation Treaty."

Chung also demanded, "North Korea should take actions that are to be deemed reliable by the international community." His demand is a reply to North Korea’s recent announcement that it is willing to prove that it has no intention of developing nuclear weapons.

Dong-Ki Sung esprit@donga.com