Archives

SEOUL, Oct 22 (AFP) - The resumption of talks in Pyongyang between North and South Korea was delayed Tuesday after an all-night session failed to produce agreement on a joint statement about the North's nuclear weapons program.

The dispute was mainly over South Korea's demand that North Korea pledge to meet nuclear safeguard accords in a joint statement wrapping up the four-day inter-Korean meeting, officials in Seoul said.

"Working-level officials from both sides had tough negotiations until dawn but failed to narrow differences," a South Korean unification ministry official told AFP.

South Korean delegates have demanded Pyongyang clarify its position on its nuclear weapons program, take quick action and stick to a 1994 agreement on nuclear arms control, according to pool reports.

But the North has been reluctant to declare its position through the joint statement.

North Korea said Monday it was ready to remove US "security concerns" through dialogue, in its first reaction since Washington revealed last week that North Korea had admitted developing enriched uranium.

But Kim Young-Nam, North Korea's number two leader, said Washington must take conciliatory steps by dropping its "hostile" policy toward the Stalinist state.

The reaction from Kim, right-hand man to North Korea's reclusive leader Kim Jong-Il, was seen as the closest the reclusive regime would come to a public admission of their covert program.

The South Korean delegation is scheduled to leave Pyongyang Tuesday afternoon.

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager