Roh Gives Top Priority to Solving DPRK Nuclear Issue

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, April 15, 2003

Roh Gives Top Priority to Solving DPRK Nuclear Issue

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun has said the nuclear issue of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is his top task which must be resolved.

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South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun has said the nuclear issue of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is his top task which must be resolved.

In an interview carried on local newspaper Munhwa Ilbo on Tuesday, the president said, at present, to solve the DPRK nuclear issue is more important than to hold inter-Korean summit.

Roh said, "Although I think a summit meeting with DPRK's top leader Kim Jong Il will be necessary if some important issues arise, it is not the right time to arrange such a meeting now."

South Korea should try to foster conductive atmosphere of the dialogue among the United States, the DPRK and other countries concerned, said the president.

"Therefore, I think it is more desirable for me to have a summit meeting with Kim Jong Il after the nuclear issue is addressed," he said, adding the agreement made at the first ever inter-Korean summit between former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong Il in June 2000 "is still effective."

The two leaders held a historic meeting in Pyongyang and issued the Joint South-North Declaration on Jung 15, 2000, providing for Kim Jong Il to pay a return visit to Seoul at a proper time.

Roh Moo-hyun also said in the interview that the DPRK and the United States should be the central parties in resolving the current nuclear dispute, and Seoul should also play a major role.

"The DPRK will eventually abandon its nuclear weapons program and the countries concerned will guarantee its security, provide economic assistance and help Pyongyang join the international community," Roh predicted.

Roh's remarks came after the DPRK over the weekend expressed its softening stance on the settlement of the nuclear issue, saying it would not stick to any particular framework if Washington abandons its anti-DPRK policy.

South Korea, the United States, Japan and Russian welcomed the softening stance of the DPRK and all of them hoped the nuclear issue to be addressed peacefully.

The nuclear standoff surfaced last October when the United States alleged Pyongyang had a nuclear weapon program, and a US-led international organization's decision to suspend heavy fuel oil shipment to the DPRK last November triggered Pyongyang to declare it would reactivate its frozen nuclear facilities for energy production.

After expelling the inspectors of International Atomic Energy Agency, the DPRK announced its withdrawal from an the Non-Proliferation Treaty in January this year.

Pyongyang has repeatedly said that the only way to solve the nuclear issue is to hold bilateral talks with Washington and to sign a non-aggression treaty with the United States to guarantee the security of DPRK's sovereignty.

However, the US government insisted on addressing the DPRK nuclear issue within a multilateral format.

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