Posted on 08/29/2003 10:52:21 PM PDT by witnesstothefall
BEIJING, Aug 30, 2003 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- North Korea no longer has "interest or expectations" in further talks on its nuclear program, a spokesman for Pyongyang's delegation to six-nation talks on the subject said Saturday.
"There is no need for this kind of talks," the unidentified spokesman told reporters at Beijing's airport, reading from a statement as the delegation was leaving the Chinese capital after the landmark three-day meeting.
"This round of talks was nothing more than empty talks," the spokesman said. "We no longer have interest or expectations either for this kind of talks."
The United States, North Korea, China, Japan, South Korea and Russia had gathered for three days of discussions in an effort to ease tensions that have been building since Pyongyang acknowledged in October that it restarted a nuclear program it had supposedly shut down.
The United States has demanded that the program be stopped immediately, but North Korea has refused to comply unless it receives economic aid and a nonaggression treaty from the United States.
"This is not just a difference in opinion but a difference in fundamental policies," the North Korean spokesman said. "We have come to conclude that the United States has no intention for a policy switchover and it plots to disarm our country through sinister schemes."
Brinkmanship and bluster have characterized North Korea's diplomacy in recent years. During the six-nation talks, North Korea said it would prove to the world it possesses nuclear weapons by testing a nuclear device, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
But Pyongyang's chief delegate, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Yong Il, also suggested his country was willing to abandon the nuclear weapons program if the United States agreed to its conditions.
"It is not our goal to have nuclear weapons," Pyongyang's state-run news agency, KCNA, quoted Kim as saying.
The talks ended Friday with the goal of holding another round of talks in the near future, but no date was immediately set.
Probably better to burn out their eyes.
Don't blink, Mr Bush.
You're being assayed.
Strike early and hard.
The talks are over.
"Talks may have failed" bump, lock and load.
By AUDRA ANG, Associated Press Writer
BEIJING - North Korea (news - web sites) angrily dismissed the possibility of further negotiations over its nuclear program on Saturday, one day after the end of landmark six-nation talks where the isolated regime indicated it might be willing to reach a compromise.
"This round of talks was nothing more than empty talks," an unidentified North Korean delegation spokesman told reporters at the airport, reading from a statement as the envoys were leaving Beijing.
"We no longer have interest, or expectations either, for this kind of talks," he said. "We are left with no option."
Less than two hours earlier, Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly, who represented the United States in the talks, said all parties had gotten off to "a productive start."
The U.S. Embassy in Beijing said it had no immediate comment on the North Korean delegation's remarks. The Chinese and South Korean governments did not immediately react either.
In Tokyo, Japan's Defense Agency unveiled plans to seek $1.2 billion for U.S.-designed systems to defend against ballistic missiles. The request is part of a major defense initiative spawned by concern over North Korea's long-range missiles.
The agency's annual budget proposal calls for buying two U.S.-developed weapons systems — one sea-based and one land-based — to provide a double shield against missiles with a range of up to 600 miles. Delivery could start as early as 2006.
Japan has been conducting joint research with the United States on missile defense since 1999 — a year after the test-launch of a three-stage North Korean Taepodong missile that flew over Japanese airspace. The incident showed that virtually all of Japan could be targeted by North Korean missiles.
This week's extraordinary three-day, six-country summit was the result of months of delicate political maneuvering. China, the North's last major ally, also played host to diplomats from Japan, South Korea (news - web sites) and Russia.
Tensions have been growing since October, when Pyongyang acknowledged privately to Kelly that it had restarted its nuclear weapons program.
The United States has insisted on "the complete, verifiable and irreversible elimination" of North Korea's nuclear weapons program before it can seriously consider improving relations with the North. But the impoverished Stalinist regime has refused to comply without security and economic aid guarantees.
All the governments represented at the Beijing talks had expressed varying degrees of opposition to the North's nuclear ambitions. China has also said repeatedly that it wants a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.
The delegates from the six countries said the main goal of the gathering was to establish an opening for future talks and address North Korea's security issues. No date or venue was established, but China Central Television reported that fresh meetings would take place within two months.
"We've had a nice visit to Beijing, a productive start," Kelly told reporters before leaving for the airport. "We've got a very long way to travel."
He added: "But a peaceful solution is something we're going to work on."
Kelly and his delegation met with their North Korean counterparts on Wednesday along the sidelines of the summit, which began on an amicable note as delegates smiled, shook hands and posed for photos. Kelly and Pyongyang's chief delegate, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Yong Il, shook hands with each other before turning to the others.
The informal huddle was the first direct contact between the United States and North Korea since April, when Beijing hosted their meetings on the issue. "The U.S. will not respond to threats or give in to blackmail," she said. "These threats only serve to further isolate North Korea from the international community."
But Kim also showed a willingness to compromise, suggesting that his country would abandon the nuclear weapons program if the United States agreed to its conditions.
"It is not our goal to have nuclear weapons," Pyongyang's state-run news agency, KCNA, quoted Kim as saying.
The delegation spokesman at the airport, however, reverted back to North's original rhetoric.
"This is not just a difference in opinion but a difference in fundamental policies," the North Korean delegation spokesman said. "We have come to conclude that the United States has no intention for a policy switchover and it plots to disarm our country through sinister schemes."
Also Saturday, North Korea's state-run newspaper Minju Joson said its "nuclear deterrent force" is a self-defense measure to cope with what they called U.S. strategy to "stifle" its communist country.
"Our nuclear deterrent force is a self-defense measure to cope with the U.S. strategy to isolate and stifle the DPRK," the newspaper said, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
Yes, that is what it will come down to.
I am not a war monger.
But I am absolutely convinced that the take-down of Saddam prevented a wider, and worse war in that region.
North Korea needs to learn a lesson, which will be instructive to Iran as well.
The elimination of WMD on the Korean peninsula, and the elimination of North Korea as a source of proliferation of these weapons to other countries, will prevent a worse catastrophe.
Hold steady, President Bush.
That's why they are being pulled back and repositioned from the front.
The Bush Administration took the pulse of the homefront and realized that using American soldiers as a "speed bump" in Korea was no longer teneable.
ROK soldiers will die for the liberation of their "brothers" in North Korea, as is appropriate.
That bizzare fat pygmy of Pyongyang should go.
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