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The second round of six-way talks on the North Korean nuclear issue are set to open in Beijing on Wednesday, and many are optimistic about the outcome. In an interview with the daily Maeil Gyeongje, President Roh Moo-hyun said the six-way talks would "turn out well" and that North Korea would come to the table willing to yield.
"North Korea has said on several occasions that it could give up its nuclear [program]," said Roh. He said it would be a problem of "What demands would be implemented in what order," and thanked China for its efforts with the North.
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Senior delegates of South Korea, the United States and Japan had a preparatory meeting in Seoul Monday ahead of the six-way conference on the North Korean issue to be held in Beijing Wednesday. From left are Japanese Foreign Ministry¡¯s director-general Mitoji Yabunaka, South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Soo-hyuck and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly.
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The Japanese press is saying that Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi told Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Ichiro Aisawa that North Korea told him it is willing to freeze its nuclear program.
This and other development suggest the North might behave differently in the second round of six-way talks. The North has told Australia and other countries that it will be more actively interested in a resolution this time around.
However, each country participating in the talks is making different predictions on whether it will be willing to forgo all of its nuclear programs, including those involving highly enriched uranium (HEU), and so they might each take a different approach at the talks, or at least take positions different from that of the Korean government.
At a meeting of diplomats from Korea, Japan, and the United States held in Seoul on Monday, Japan and the U.S. agreed to Korea's proposal for compensation should the North give up all of is nuclear programs, though all three sides disagree on the details.
Reports are suggesting the U.S. will push for a very detailed proposal regarding a verification scheme, as HEU is known to be particularly difficult to monitor.
The Korean government wants to give the North three major conditions; that freeze all nuclear programs including HEU, that it allow an international organization to inspect for verification, and that there be a minimum of time between the initial freeze and the final abolition of all nuclear capabilities. In return, the North would receive energy assistance.
As recently as two days before the talks, however, the North continues to completely deny the very existence of an HEU program, so friction is expected. The North's Korean Central News Agency said Saturday that "claims about highly enriched uranium are false propaganda with no basis," and are "the result of a conspiracy of about ten days of meetings by America's neo-conservatives." It said they U.S. is "going about a show of deception" with "accusations of a transfer of nuclear technology by a Pakistani scientist."
Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Soo-hyuck said Monday that the goal of the six-way talks will be the North declaring its willingness to quite its nuclear programs, a joint statement, the creation of a working group to continue with the details, and determining a date for a third round of talks.
"We will use intra-Korean contact to the greatest advantage, make the U.S. and Korean position better understood, and try to convince the North" to cooperate, said Lee.
(Yi Ha-won, may2@chosun.com )
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