DPRK ready to consider US proposal on written security assurance

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, October 25, 2003

DPRK ready to consider US proposal on written security assurance

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The Democratic People's Republicof Korea (DPRK) was ready to consider US President George W. Bush's recent remarks on offering some written security assurance to the DPRK to solve the nuclear issue, a spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry said Saturday.

"We are ready to consider Bush's remarks on the 'written assurances of non-aggression' if they are based on the intention to co-exist with the DPRK and aimed to play a positive role in realizing the proposal for a package solution on the principle of simultaneous actions," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) quoted the spokesman as saying.

"We have already informed the US side of it through the channelof New York contact and are now in the process of ascertaining thereal intention of the United States," he said.

He also noted that it is premature to talk about whether his country would return to the six-way talks under the present situation unless the United States confirms its acceptance of the principle of simultaneous actions on solving the nuclear issue.

US President Bush said Monday in Bangkok, the venue for the Asia-Pacific economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, that progress was being made on peacefully solving the nuclear standoff with the DPRK by offering Pyongyang written security guarantee in exchange for a commitment to scrap its nuclear weapons program.

The DPRK has initially termed Bush's proposal as not worth considering, insisting that only a formal non-aggression treaty can solve the nuclear issue.

Referring to Bush's remarks in Bangkok, the unnamed DPRK Foreign Ministry spokesman said, "This stance is prompted by the expectation that the DPRK and the US can build confidence and lay a foundation of co-existence in the course of solving issues one after another on the principle of simultaneous actions."

He reiterated the principle of simultaneous actions by both sides and stressed that the nuclear issue will be settled "if the DPRK's proposal for a package solution based on the principle of simultaneous actions is realized."

"What we want is for both sides to drop guns and establish normal state relationship to co-exist peacefully. The unilateral demand that one of the two belligerent parties forces the other party to drop guns and come out first with its hands up can never be met," he added.

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