N.Korea to Be Asked to Be Nuclear Free - Report
Jan. 2 — TOKYO (Reuters) - The United States, Japan and South Korea are to demand North Korea scrap its nuclear programs, including those used for power generation, at the next round of six-way nuclear talks, a Japanese newspaper said Saturday.
In the most explicit statement of allied goals for making North Korea nuclear-free, the three governments have agreed the North should not be allowed to use nuclear energy even for peaceful purposes as long as Kim Jong-il remained in power, the Yomiuri Shimbun said.
"As long as there is fear that North Korean facilities might be used for military purposes, we can't tolerate any nuclear facilities, not even those operated for peaceful purposes," Yomiuri quoted a senior Foreign Ministry official as saying.
North Korea, believed by the United States to already have one or two nuclear bombs, has sparked global alarm over its nuclear ambitions.
The Yomiuri Shimbun, quoting Japanese government sources, said the United States, Japan and South Korea would only consider giving aid to the North to build thermal power plants.
An agreement to rid North Korea of all nuclear programs was reached after talks among officials from the three countries, it said.
Japanese Foreign Ministry officials were not immediately available for comment.
The report comes ahead of an expected visit next week to North Korea by two U.S. groups, who might tour the nuclear complex at Yongbyon, which Washington believes is at the heart of North Korea's suspected nuclear arms program.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi said last month that North Korea had agreed to take part in a second round of six-party talks on its nuclear program early in 2004, but added that exact dates had yet to be decided.
Japanese officials have said they were optimistic the talks could be held in January.
A first round of talks was held in Beijing in August involving China, the two Koreas, Japan, Russia and the United States. The discussions ended inconclusively.
North Korea wants security guarantees from Washington, which, for its part, insists on an "irreversible verification regime" to end Pyongyang's nuclear programs, including the production of plutonium and highly enriched uranium for nuclear fuel.
The North Korean nuclear crisis began in October 2002 when the United States said North Korea had admitted to having a nuclear weapons program, which U.S. officials say violated a 1994 agreement by Pyongyang to freeze its nuclear program in exchange for two light-water nuclear reactors.
Copyright 2003 Reuters News Service. All rights reserved. This material may
Jan. 2 — TOKYO (Reuters) - The United States, Japan and South Korea are to demand North Korea scrap its nuclear programs, including those used for power generation, at the next round of six-way nuclear talks, a Japanese newspaper said Saturday.
In the most explicit statement of allied goals for making North Korea nuclear-free, the three governments have agreed the North should not be allowed to use nuclear energy even for peaceful purposes as long as Kim Jong-il remained in power, the Yomiuri Shimbun said.
"As long as there is fear that North Korean facilities might be used for military purposes, we can't tolerate any nuclear facilities, not even those operated for peaceful purposes," Yomiuri quoted a senior Foreign Ministry official as saying.
North Korea, believed by the United States to already have one or two nuclear bombs, has sparked global alarm over its nuclear ambitions.
The Yomiuri Shimbun, quoting Japanese government sources, said the United States, Japan and South Korea would only consider giving aid to the North to build thermal power plants.
An agreement to rid North Korea of all nuclear programs was reached after talks among officials from the three countries, it said.
Japanese Foreign Ministry officials were not immediately available for comment.
The report comes ahead of an expected visit next week to North Korea by two U.S. groups, who might tour the nuclear complex at Yongbyon, which Washington believes is at the heart of North Korea's suspected nuclear arms program.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi said last month that North Korea had agreed to take part in a second round of six-party talks on its nuclear program early in 2004, but added that exact dates had yet to be decided.
Japanese officials have said they were optimistic the talks could be held in January.
A first round of talks was held in Beijing in August involving China, the two Koreas, Japan, Russia and the United States. The discussions ended inconclusively.
North Korea wants security guarantees from Washington, which, for its part, insists on an "irreversible verification regime" to end Pyongyang's nuclear programs, including the production of plutonium and highly enriched uranium for nuclear fuel.
The North Korean nuclear crisis began in October 2002 when the United States said North Korea had admitted to having a nuclear weapons program, which U.S. officials say violated a 1994 agreement by Pyongyang to freeze its nuclear program in exchange for two light-water nuclear reactors.
Copyright 2003 Reuters News Service. All rights reserved. This material may
