Resumption of six-party talks ‘fully up to N.K.’: Minister Kim

Instead of setting preconditions, South Korea will watch how much veracity North Korea shows toward denuclearization and the two deadly attacks last year in their upcoming talks to decide when to restart larger-scale peace talks, Seoul’s foreign minister said.

The comments by Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan come as the two Koreas are preparing to hold defense talks viewed by regional powers as a step toward resuming the stalled six-nation dialogue aimed at North Korea’s denuclearization.

The Seoul government has been reluctant to talk with Pyongyang, which claimed the lives of dozens of South Koreans through the attacks last year, and is apparently negative toward doing the communist state a favor by restarting the international aid-for-denuclearization negotiations.

“While we can set the conditions for the inter-Korean dialogue, we cannot solely decide the terms for the six-party talks,” Kim told The Korea Herald. “Each and every one of the six dialogue partners must agree on the conditions of the latter case.”

Should North Korea show no genuine willingness to dismantle its nuclear facilities or admit responsibility for the attacks against Seoul, there will be “no meaningful conversation” between the two Koreas, the minister added.

“The two talks will inevitably affect one another and this type of negative attitude by North Korea will naturally affect the resumption of the six-party talks,” he said. “To conclude, it is not up to us, but to North Korea on how soon the six-party talks can restart.”

While growing desperate to mend ties with South Korea and restart talks with other dialogue partners for aid, North Korea has been stubbornly denying its role behind the sunken Seoul warship in March. It calls South Korea’s preemptive attack responsible for its bombing of a border island eight months later, which also caused civilian casualties.

South Korea will also pursue separate talks with Pyongyang to verify its pledge to denuclearize as it is also a key issue in inter-Korean relations, Kim said.

“North Korea must change its previous position to discuss nuclear issues only with the U.S.,” he said. “Our recognition over whether or not North Korea is willing to give up its nuclear weapons will lay the groundwork for the six-party talks.”

Pyongyang refuses to discuss denuclearization issues with Seoul, claiming its atomic arms are aimed at deterring the U.S., not the South.

The denuclearization issue has been discussed in the six-nation talks involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia since 2003. North Korea, going through an unstable power transfer and in apparent need of outside aid, wants to restart the talks, which have been stalled since 2008.

Although not fully agreed upon the issue of taking North Korea’s new uranium enrichment activity to the U.N. Security Council, the five dialogue partners are currently discussing “several concrete options” to stop the potentially dangerous program, Kim said.

North Korea unveiled a new uranium enrichment facility to a U.S. expert last year, apparently urging dialogue partners to resume talks to halt its nuclear ambitions.

Uranium, if highly enriched, can be used to make nuclear weapons, giving Pyongyang an alternative to plutonium. The communist state has conducted two atomic tests already.

Although it won’t be easy to get China’s agreement in taking the case to the U.N., the Seoul government “is generally optimistic” after the U.S., China summit last month, the minister said.

Overcoming their once-divided view, U.S. President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao agreed during their talks on the importance of halting North Korea’s provocations and its uranium enrichment program.

“We view highly the fact China officially expressed concerns about North Korea’s uranium enrichment activity for the first time,” Kim said.

The Seoul government will be increasing high-level contacts with Beijing beginning next month to directly work on getting the former communist state’s support in dealing with North Korea, the minister said, adding he will be visiting China in the near future.

China has been somewhat reluctant toward working with other dialogue partners on reining in its traditional ally North Korea’s growing belligerence and had disagreed in taking the country’s March naval attack to the U.N. last year. As Pyongyang’s largest financial donor, Beijing is considered a key nation Seoul must “get on its side” to effectively deal with pending issues on the divided peninsula.

“We have not had many meetings with China recently, largely because China had its full focus on last month’s summit in Washington,” said Kim “Now that the summit is over, I plan to visit China myself sometime in the near future to meet with the Chinese foreign minister.”

Kim also said South Korea was working closely with the U.S. regarding the revision of the Seoul-Washington Missile Technology Control Regime and the Nuclear Cooperation Agreement.

Seoul is currently banned from developing or possessing missiles with a range of more than 300 kilometers and a payload of over 500 kilograms under the MTCR. Amid mounting tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Seoul has been seeking to revise the bilateral accord to develop missiles with an extended range capable of landing anywhere in North Korea.

Forged in 1974, the current Seoul-Washington peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement will expire in 2014.

The two nations are currently working on the details of a new pact that can “positively affect both sides concerning peaceful nuclear trade and nonproliferation controls,” Kim said.

The Seoul minister also said his government will be taking “more active part in the international move to root out piracy,” citing South Korea’s recent capture of Somali pirates who will be tried and punished in the country.

By Shin Hae-in (hayney@heraldcorp.com)