N. Korea Wants Normalized Relations With the U.S.

Charles Pritchard, president of Korea Economic Institute, held a press conference at the KEI building in Washington on Wednesday and explained North Korea’s intention regarding the nuclear negotiation between the United States and North Korea.

With his report on his visit to North Korea in April to the U.S. government in hand, he asked journalists to ask good questions hitting the mark. He said that his explanation was based on his dialogue with North Korea’s Foreign Minister Park Eui Chun, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Kwan, and Lee Geun, the head of the North American Affairs Bureau of North Korea’s Foreign Ministry.

According to Pritchard, North Korea’s six-party talks representative said at a discussion session of the Center for Strategic and International Studies on May 29, “North Korea believes that nuclear facilities in Yongbyon will be subject to the third stage of nuclear negotiation but nuclear weapons will not be subject to the negotiation which encourages North Korea to scrap its nuclear programs.”

▽ North Korea’s three demands?

Pritchard quoted North Korean leaders as saying, “The United States should be accustomed to North Korea with nuclear programs. North Korea will discuss how to reduce its nuclear program only when its relations with the United States are normalized.”

North Korea reportedly argued, “Unofficial nuclear power Israel is the closest friend of the United States. If the United States and North Korea normalize their relations, North Korea’s nuclear programs will not be a big deal.”

Pritchard also stressed, “North Korea understands the six-party talks as a process to get light-water reactors in exchange for scrapping its nuclear facilities in Yongbyon. North Korea believes that it would finish construction of light-water reactors in three years if it makes use of the land in Geumho district and that it would also take three years to scrap nuclear facilities.”

In terms of suspicion of a uranium enrichment program and nuclear proliferation, he said, “North Korea argued that the United States’ suspicion that North Korea has contributed to nuclear proliferation is not true and doesn’t make sense, and urged that the United States show telltale evidence such as shipping materials.”

▽ What’s North Korea’s Intention?

Pritchard, who accompanied former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to North Korea in 2000 and former Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly, who let the world know about the second nuclear crisis in 2002, analyzed that North Korea’s recent remarks would not stir new crisis.

The KEI president explained, “North Korea’s recent statement can be understood as a negotiation strategy. Certainly, North Korea has argued that it has developed nuclear weapons in order to prevent other nations’ attack. Given that, it’s possible that North Korea disclosed its will that it would not give up nuclear weapons unless threats to its regime disappear.”

But, he warned, “If the United States does not clearly deal with the issues of UEP and nuclear proliferation in the phase of nuclear declaration, it may face difficulties handling North Korea’s nuclear programs in the future and the next government will be put under heavier pressure.”

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