S. Korea cautious on N. Korea’s recent nuclear deal with U.S.

North Korea’s recent nuclear deal with the United States is a good indicator of Pyongyang’s current movement, but it is still too early to “conclusively assess” it, South Korea’s point man on North Korea said.

North Korea has agreed to freeze its uranium-enrichment facilities and temporarily halt its nuclear and long-range missile tests in exchange for 240,000 tons of U.S. food aid.

The North has also agreed to allow the return of monitors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to its main nuclear complex in Yongbyon.

Pyongyang and Washington announced the deal late last month after their first high-level talks in Beijing on Pyongyang‘s nuclear programs since the December death of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-il.

“It is still too early to conclusively assess that. But it is a good signal that the government in the North is willing to move,” Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik said in an interview posted on the Spiegel‘s Web site.

Yu held the interview with the German weekly magazine during his recent trip to Germany and the European Union.

The nuclear accord raised hope that the six-party talks on ending Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programs could be resumed.

The North quit the disarmament-for-aid talks in April 2009 and conducted a second nuclear test a month later. The talks also involve South Korea, China, Japan and Russia.

Still, Yu sounded a cautious note on whether North Korea will follow through with its latest commitment.

“If the announced steps are indeed implemented, then it will achieve the precondition for new talks -- also with an expanded number of parties, as we have always demanded,” Yu said. “Now we will have to see how dependable this announcement really is.”

The North has a track record of making commitments in return for economic concessions and then abandoning talks and reneging on its commitments. (Yonhap News)