The mouthpiece of a pro-Pyongyang Korean residents association in Japan on Friday said Seoul's proposal to supply the North with free electricity "may create an environment conducive to resolving the nuclear issue but will not be a motive for abandoning nuclear weapons." North Korea has not commented on the South’s "important proposal," but the Choson Sinbo bimonthly is usually a fairly accurate gauge of official sentiment in Pyongyang. The comments come 10 days after the proposal was made public and a few days ahead of the resumption of six-party talks on the nuclear dispute.

"Under conditions where (North) Korea-U.S. nuclear confrontation has taken the aspect of a realistic military confrontation, a phased accumulation of Korea-U.S. trust through economic cooperation or assistance is not an appropriate way of resolving the crisis,” the paper said. It reportedly subjects most of its stories to approval by the propaganda department of the North Korean Workers' Party.

The newspaper gave an "affirmative evaluation" to President Roh Moo-hyun's Nov. 13 remarks opposing U.S. military action against the North, ten days after Roh’s remarks was made. Though North Korean authorities did not make it public, the Stalinist country’s leader Kim Jong-il is also said to have given Roh good marks in his June 17 meeting with Unification Minister Chung Dong-young.

In November the government blocked public access to the Choson Sinbo website but keeps reading it to get an idea of North Korea's position. Friday’s article can thus be seen as the North's first reaction to the South Korean proposal.

"Now is the time for Korea and the U.S. to directly discuss their confrontational political and military structure," the paper said, "because dismantling nuclear weapons and renouncing nuclear programs can only happen as part of a process of dissolving the confrontational structure" between the two countries.

A Unification Ministry official admitted the article could bear close examination because the paper has often reflected North Korea’s position. "But it is premature to conclude that the North has rejected the important proposal," the official said. "North Korea has on several occasions asked for the supply of 2 mw of electricity. It would be self-contradictory if it now rejected the offer."

Observers say this could mean that Pyongyang will try to get the electricity in return for something less than abandoning its nuclear programs.

(englishnews@chosun.com )