Free Republic

US adopts tough stand ahead of nuclear talks with North KoreaFri Sep 9, 7:22 PM ET The United States adopted a tough stand ahead of talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program, saying it would not compromise on the hardline communist state's request to maintain peaceful atomic activities. "Our opposition has been very clear on this. What North Korea has to do is get out of the nuclear business," said Christopher Hill, the chief US negotiator to the six-party talks due to resume in Beijing on Tuesday. "Nuclear weapons, nuclear programs are not something that one should leave...

N.Korean Mouthpiece Says Free Electricity not EnoughThe mouthpiece of a pro-Pyongyang Korean residents association in Japan on Friday said Seoul's proposal to supply the North with free electricity "may create an environment conducive to resolving the nuclear issue but will not be a motive for abandoning nuclear weapons." North Korea has not commented on the South’s "important proposal," but the Choson Sinbo bimonthly is usually a fairly accurate gauge of official sentiment in Pyongyang. The comments come 10 days after the proposal was made public and a few days ahead of the resumption of six-party talks on the nuclear dispute....

/begin my translationN. Korean Central TV announced that N. Korea and U.S. agreed to have the 4th round of 6-party talks in the week of July 25. /end my translation

Japan says patience running thin on N.Korea talks04 Jul 2005 08:05:02 GMT Source: Reuters TOKYO, July 4 (Reuters) - Patience is running out for North Korea's return to stalled talks on its nuclear arms programme, Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said on Monday, adding that Tokyo was neither optimistic nor pessimistic about the likelihood the negotiations would resume soon. "In some quarters there is a very optimistic view and they probably have their basis for that, but the Japanese government is neither extremely optimistic nor extremely pessimistic," Machimura told Reuters in an interview. "Soon, we will reach the limits of...

US says no to N Korea nuclear talks in NYAgence France-Presse Washington, July 1, 2005 The State Department poured cold water on Thursday on reports that US and North Korean officials might meet outside a conference in New York to try to revive talks on Pyongyang's nuclear programme. Asian diplomats had said they expected State Department officials Joseph DeTrani and Jim Foster and senior North Korean diplomat Ri Gun to discuss the nuclear issue outside a two-day academic conference opening today. But State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters that "no meetings are scheduled between US and North Korean officials...

/begin my translation [Exclusive]  AEI, Influential to Bush Admin., Proposes 'Ending Alliance with S. Korea'  American Enterprise Institute... If N. Korea refuses to return to 6-party talk, it recommends a preemptive strike.It is confirmed that S. Korean government is anti-American...argues for the withdrawal of American troops The cover of July-August Issue of 'The American Enterprise.' With the picture of horrific nuclear explosion, it features as the Current Issue Highlights, 'Nip It Now: Avoiding a nightmare in N. Korea.' American Enterprise Institute(AEI), instrumental for creating the Bush administration, which maintains enormous influence over administration policies, urged the new policy as an alternative to 6-party talk, to resolve N....

North Korea Complains About Bush MeetingBy BURT HERMAN, Associated Press Writer Thu Jun 23, 6:38 AM ET SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea condemned President Bush for meeting a prominent defector detained as a child in a prison camp, saying Thursday the move chilled the atmosphere for a return to nuclear disarmament talks. ADVERTISEMENT Meanwhile, a high-ranking North Korean delegation in Seoul held a rare meeting with South Korea's president as the two sides discussed family reunions and military contacts across their Cold War border. The talks between the divided Koreas are running alongside efforts to coax the North back...

North Korea making 'excuses' for not returning to talks: Rice 37 minutes ago WASHINGTON (AFP) - North Korean officials "love to make excuses" for their continued absence at six-party talks aimed at ending the Stalinist state's nuclear standoff, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said. Rice added that the United States was ready to listen to North Korea when it sets a date for returning to the talks, which also include South Korea, Japan, China and Russia. "The North Koreans love to make excuses for why they can't come to the six-party talks," she told Fox News Sunday when asked...

Friday June 17, 10:03 PMU.S. looks for action, not words from N. Korea(Kyodo) _ The United States is looking for action, not words, from North Korea on its return to the six-nation talks on its nuclear ambitions, and will not accept any preconditions on Pyongyang's return to the negotiating table, the State Department said Friday. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il said Friday that Pyongyang would return to the multinational talks as early as July, but conditioned the return on the United States treating it with respect as a partner, according to South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong Young. Young...

Enveloped in a nuclear fog By HARVEY STOCKWIN HONG KONG -- Any day now the mere oscillation of a seismograph needle could precipitate uncertainties and greatly increase tensions: North Korea may become the second East Asian nation to shock the world with an underground nuclear test explosion, just as China did at Lop Nor in 1964. At the end of April the Bush administration informed the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna and several allied nations that an underground test was being prepared by the North Koreans and could take place as early as June. Governments made sure that their...

Rice: N. Korea Must Talk About Dismantling By ANNE GEARAN, AP Diplomatic Writer Thu Jun 16, 4:35 PM ET WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday it isn't enough for North Korea to return to six-nation disarmament talks but that it should commit to discuss dismantling its nuclear program. "The ball is in the North Koreans' court," Rice said as she prepared to embark on a weeklong trip to the Middle East and Europe. Talks between North and South Korea, the United States, China, Russia and Japan have been on hold for a year because Pyongyang has boycotted...

http://english.yna.co.kr/Engnews/20050617/610000000020050617142114E2.html(5th LD) Kim Jong-il meets visiting South Korean officialPYONGYANG, June 17 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il held a rare meeting with a South Korean official Friday but there was no indication that their discussions included the ongoing tension over the communist country's nuclear program. South Korean officials in Pyongyang, the North's capital, confirmed the luncheon meeting between their unification minister, Chung Dong-young and Kim but provided few other details. Also invited to the luncheon were several former South Korean officials whom the North Korean leader had met. They included Lim Dong-won and Park Jae-kyu who served as unification...

N.Korea rejects new nuclear talks unless US meets unspecified conditions Wed Jun 8, 9:37 AM ET SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea ruled out new talks on its nuclear ambitions unless Washington meets unspecified conditions, in a setback to efforts to resolve the standoff. The Stalinist state's official Korean Central News Agency said a fourth round of the stalled six-nation talks would take place only when the United States agrees to its demands. "As for the resumption of the six-party talks, it entirely depends on the US response to the DPRK's (North Korea's) call for creating conditions and an environment for...

2005/06/07 13:14 KST N. Korea demands nuke disarmament talks with U.S. By Kim Kwang-tae SEOUL, June 7 (Yonhap) -- North Korea asked the United States Tuesday to withdraw its nuclear weapons from South Korea and demanded that six-nation talks on its nuclear program be switched to nuclear disarmament talks. The North's demand, which was not new, comes as international pressure is building on the communist country to rejoin the six-nation talks which have been stalled for almost a year. The United States, a key member of the six-nation talks which also involve the two Koreas, China, Japan and Russia, has...

U.S. rebuffs N. Korea call for more policy clarity, conditions WASHINGTON, May 23, Kyodo - The United States on Monday rebutted North Korea's call on Washington to explain its stance, which North Korea claims is confusing, and set conditions to pave the way for its return to the six-party talks on its nuclear ambitions. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said he did not believe the United States had made any conflicting statements. ''I think we've made it clear to North Korea that there are no preconditions for returning to the talks,'' McClellan added. ''We hope that they will come back...

Russian military chief calls for steps to prevent North Korea nuclear test 15:47 2005-05-23 Russia's military chief of staff reportedly called Monday for steps to prevent North Korea from conducting nuclear tests, expressing a sense of urgency amid increasing U.S. concern that Pyongyang may soon conduct a test. "Today it is necessary to do everything possible in order not to allow North Korea to conduct (nuclear) tests," the Interfax news agency quoted Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky, chief of the general staff of the armed forces, as saying. He did not specify what might be done to prevent it. Baluyevsky also called...

COMMENT: Beijing loses patience with Pyongyang Frank Ching May 19: CHINA'S attitude toward North Korea appears to be hardening. At a time when there is speculation that Pyongyang may conduct a nuclear test, a Chinese source said that if North Korea insists on pursuing nuclear weapons, "I don't think China will try to block the international community from expressing their views on this".It means Beijing will not block the United States and Japan from introducing a resolution in the United Nations Security Council critical of North Korea. Chinese and North Korean officials have discussed the possibility that the nuclear...

U.S. says it held talks with North Korea50 minutes ago TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. officials met North Korean officials in New York last week in the first such bilateral contact this year, a spokesman for the U.S. embassy in Tokyo said on Thursday. The talks took place at a time of growing concern that North Korea may be preparing a nuclear test and as Washington faces increasing pressure from its own partners to open some form of dialogue with Pyongyang."We can confirm we had working-level contacts with North Korean officials on Friday, May 13, in New York," the embassy spokesman...

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20050510-00000152-kyodo-int/begin my translationU.S. demanded China to resolve stalemate in 6 party talks by JulyKyodo News 05/10/05[Washington] It has been known today that U.S. recently asked China, the chair-nation of 6-party talks, to resolve the (current) situation by July, 2005, so that N. Korea can return to the negotiation table, according to sources on U.S.-China relations. It appears that they have put pressure through China in order to block the preparation for N. Korean nuclear test, which is the cherished goal of the International Community.In addition to the coincidence that coming late June is the  one year anniversary of 6 party talk,  the deep...

Nuclear test by North Korea will be 'provocative act:' White House Fri May 6, 3:19 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - The White House warned any nuclear weapons test by North Korea will be a provocative act, as reports suggested an underground nuclear experiment could take place in the Stalinist state. The New York Times said that US officials familiar with satellite and intelligence data believed North Korea was building a reviewing stand and filling in a tunnel, signs of a potential underground nuclear test. "I don't want to get into discussing intelligence matters, but what I would say is that...