NKorea ready to discuss nuke disarmament (if the US is ready to drop hostile attitude)

BEIJING - North Korea is ready to discuss the initial steps of its nuclear disarmament, the country's main envoy said Thursday as he arrived for international talks on the communist nation's atomic weapons program.

"We are prepared to discuss first-stage measures," Kim Kye Gwan said after arriving in Beijing for the six-nation negotiations set to start later Thursday.

However, Kim said any moves by North Korea would be determined by the United States' attitude.

"We are going to make a judgment based on whether the United States will give up its hostile policy and come out toward peaceful coexistence," he said.

The latest nuclear standoff with the North started in late 2002 after Washington accused Pyongyang of having a secret uranium enrichment program in violation of a 1994 deal between the two countries. North Korea kicked out nuclear inspectors and restarted its main reactor, moves that culminated in the country's first atomic test detonation in October.

Although the U.S. and key North Korean allies China and Russia backed U.N. sanctions after the nuclear test, Washington has since engaged in a series of diplomatic overtures that have drawn praise from Pyongyang.

The main U.s. envoy, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, went to Germany last month to meet North Korean nuclear envoy Kim Kye Gwan, and the North later said the sides had reached an unspecified agreement. The specifics of what they discussed haven't been made public.

Washington also has held separate talks on financial restrictions it has placed on a Macau-based bank where the North held accounts, accusing it of complicity in the regime's alleged counterfeiting and money laundering. Blacklisting that bank has scared off other financial institutions from dealings with the North for fear of losing access to the U.S. market.

The North had earlier demanded the financial restrictions be lifted for it to disarm, and refused to talk about anything else at the last nuclear talks in December.

The lack of progress at the arms negotiations has raised the issue of the credibility of the talks. Since 2003, they have produced only a single agreement in September 2005 on principles for the North to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for aid and pledges that Washington won't seek the regime's ouster.

Update

NKorea ready to discuss nuke disarmament

BURT HERMAN, Associated Press Writer

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070208/ap_on_re_as/koreas_nuclear

BEIJING - North Korea expressed its readiness Thursday to discuss initial steps of its nuclear disarmament, raising hopes for the first tangible progress at international talks on Pyongyang's atomic weapons program since they began more than three years ago.

"We are prepared to discuss first-stage measures," the North's nuclear envoy Kim Kye Gwan said on arriving in Beijing for the six-nation negotiations set to start later Thursday.

Media reports have suggested the North may agree to freeze its main nuclear reactor and allow international inspectors in exchange for energy aid as a starting step to disarm.

But Kim said any moves by North Korea would be determined by the United States' attitude.

"We are going to make a judgment based on whether the United States will give up its hostile policy and come out toward peaceful coexistence," he said, adding that Washington was "well-aware" of what it had to do.

The North has twice boycotted the talks for more than a year, claiming various U.S. policies show Washington's thinly veiled desire to topple the Pyongyang regime.

"I'm not either optimistic or pessimistic because there are still many points of confrontation to resolve," Kim said.

Earlier Thursday, the main U.S. envoy said he sensed "there is a real desire to have progress" by the North Koreans at the talks.

The lack of any on-the-ground results on disarming the North at the negotiations has raised the issue of the credibility of the talks. Since 2003, they have produced only a single agreement in September 2005 on principles for the North to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for aid and pledges that Washington won't seek the regime's ouster.

South Korea's envoy said Thursday the negotiations were at an "important crossroads" and needed to move beyond words to actions.

"Joint efforts, wisdom and flexibility from all six countries are badly needed now more than any other time," Chun Yung-woo told reporters.

Ahead of this week's round, the North had signaled it was satisfied with changes in the United States' attitude amid an apparent greater willingness on all sides to compromise on issues that deadlocked previous talks.

However, U.S. envoy Christopher Hill denied a report in a Japanese newspaper Thursday that the United States and North Korea had signed a memorandum during bilateral talks last month agreeing that Pyongyang's first steps toward denuclearization and U.S. energy support would begin simultaneously.

"We did not sign anything," Hill told reporters, but added he was hopeful the Beijing talks would lead to progress such as working groups to discuss technical issues.

Japanese envoy Kenichiro Sasae said the main goal of the current round of talks was to make concrete progress toward disarmament.

"We are prepared to do our utmost toward this goal, and we strongly hope and are certain that North Korea has come prepared to do that," Sasae said in Beijing.

The latest nuclear standoff with the North was sparked in late 2002 after Washington accused Pyongyang of a secret uranium enrichment program in violation of a 1994 deal between the two countries. North Korea kicked out nuclear inspectors and restarted its main reactor, moves that culminated in the country's first-ever test atomic detonation in October.

Although the U.S. and other key North Korean allies China and Russia backed U.N. sanctions in the wake of the nuclear test, Washington has since engaged in a series of diplomatic overtures that have drawn praise from Pyongyang.

That includes Hill's trip to Germany last month to meet Kim. The North said after the sides had reached an unspecified agreement, but the specifics of what they discussed have not been made public.

Washington also has held separate talks on financial restrictions it placed on a Macau bank where the North held accounts, accusing it of complicity in the regime's alleged counterfeiting and money laundering. Blacklisting that bank has scared off other financial institutions from dealings with the North for fears of losing access to the U.S. market.

The North had earlier demanded the financial restrictions be lifted for it to disarm, and refused to talk about anything besides that issue at the last nuclear talks in December.

No end date has been set for this round of talks, but Hill has said the Chinese hosts expected the talks to last a few days and the sides would start reviewing a draft agreement Friday.

___

Associated Press writers Jae-soon Chang and Hiroko Tabuchi contributed to this report.

North Korea: We are very, very hostile!

Rice: Too much.

NK: Very hostile!

Rice: Too much!

NK: Well..... significantly hostile. You know, quite hostile, but not to excess. We have been hostile for sixty years, after all. You can't ask us to abandon our hostility for pennies, now, can you, you [EXPLETIVE DELETED] Yankee tightwads!

Rice: We understand. But is all that hostility needed? We are really very nice when you get to know us. Besides, Congress spent every dime on public schools, Iraq and HillaryHealth.

NK: Everything!? Darn!!

Rice: We could make you the 51st state. All you have to do is petition Congress with 60,000 valid signatures, agree to tax all useful commodities, ban smoking in public places, and adopt Global Warming as your unofficial religion. That's all there is to it. After that you can apply for so much financial aid you'll be wallowing in dollars. You will have 7-11s on every corner, Wal-Marts in every town, a car in every garage, your own Disney theme park, and the welcome wagon brings Starbucks......

NK: Hoo! You got a deal, Condi!

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