The White House said Friday it continued to support a six-nation process designed to negotiate the elimination of the communist country's nuclear armaments, but had no interest in resuming direct discussions on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.
Pyongyang's announcement Thursday that it had nuclear weapons and was pulling out of six-party talks aimed at curbing its atomic ambitions presents a major challenge to South Korea, its main ally, the United States, and China, which has played a lead role in the disarmament effort.
A top North Korean diplomat said Friday that if Washington agreed to bilateral negotiations it would indicate the US was moving away from what he called America’s hostile policy toward the communist country. But the White House reiterated it was not interested in such talks.
Han Sung Ryol, North Korea’s deputy UN ambassador, said: “If the US moves to have direct dialogue with us, we can take that as a signal that the US is changing its hostile policy toward us.”
He further clarified that, “No, we do not ask for bilateral talks. The formality of the dialogue is not essential one. The essential one is the US policy - whether it try to attack us or not. That is the problem, but not the bilateral or multilateral one. We do not care about the formality.”
The comment meanwhile was widely interpreted by experts as meaning North Korea was pushing for bilateral talks following its declaration that it has nuclear weapons and was withdrawing from six-party nuclear talks that include China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States.
Han was also pessimistic when asked whether Pyongyang would engage in talks if the Washington showed a more positive attitude. “We do not expect any further positive measures from the US side. We have seen already, fully, and we made already decision,” he said.
“We have no other option but to regard the United States’ refusal to have direct dialogue with us as intention not to recognize us and to eliminate our system,” he added.
Washington has repeatedly refused bilateral talks with Pyongyang, while White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said the issue was not solely between the US and North Korea, but one that impacts all of its neighbors.
