Posted on 07/22/2007 8:05:42 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
July 23, 2007
|
|
| BEIJING ― When North Korea declares its nuclear programs, nuclear weapons may not be on that list, Kim Gye-gwan, the North’s chief nuclear negotiator to the six-party talks, indicated on Saturday. Kim talked to South Korean reporters who spotted him here as he was heading toward the departure gate of the North’s Air Koryo, flying home after the latest round of denuclearization talks. Reporters asked Kim a total of four times whether the North was willing to include nuclear weapons when it declares its nuclear programs. He did not directly answer, but then the fourth time he was asked, he replied by taking the focus off the weapons and putting it on the Yongbyon reactor, where the North’s program is established. “What we are now discussing is the issue of current nuclear plans,” Kim said. “In detail, that means the shutdown and disablement of the Yongbyon nuclear reactor. In order for the ultimate dismantlement to come, a light-water reactor has to be provided to the North.” The North has frequently requested a light-water reactor as part of its aid. When a reporter suggested that declaring nuclear weapons would help increase trust, Kim replied, “Trust is something that we will take a look at as it is established.” Although his South Korean counterpart, Chun Young-woo, earlier hinted strongly to reporters that Pyongyang had given indications it was willing to include nuclear weapons in the declaration phase, Kim’s comments dampened such hopes. In the February agreement, Pyongyang committed itself to declaring all of its existing nuclear programs, but the question of whether that included nuclear weapons was never made clear. Observers and government officials here have suspected that Pyongyang wants to draw a line between nuclear programs and nuclear weapons, the latter of which North Korea would use as its biggest bargaining chip. In September 2005, the six nations in the nuclear talks agreed to a deal that set out the broad parameters of the February agreement and focused on the implementation phase of the deal. The joint statement then stated that nations agreed “to discuss at an appropriate time the subject of the provision of a light-water reactor to the DPRK.” The day after the agreement was reached, Kim told reporters that anything less than the provision of a light-water reactor would be a cause for the deal to collapse. Other parties’ negotiators are countering this “salami tactic,” a piece-by-piece negotiating approach, saying that the required declaration of all nuclear programs includes nuclear weapons by definition. In the most recent session, Christopher Hill, Washington’s chief negotiator to the six-party talks, detailed what he thought was in the declaration phase. He said that fissile material, nuclear explosive devices and devices put on missile delivery systems all needed to be declared, in addition to the nuclear facilities. By Brian Lee Staff Writer [africanu@joongang.co.kr] |
Ping!
Is anyone surprised ?
Nuke weapons are just another bargaining chip held in reserve. When that is resolved, there will have to be another reactor negotiation.
And on and on. Meanwhile, Kim is still printing and using US$100 bills.
In other news, bears might s-— in the woods.
NO KIDDING Tiger
I think there is still some discussion about whether their cardboard box nukes actually work, or if they might fizzle like the first Paki nukes did, since they share the same design.
The trouble is, Foggy Bottom likes it.
Everyone saw this coming.
Thanks for posting this.
Not a surprise to me, only to our leaders, who cannot see around the corner to what comes next.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.