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Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said Wednesday North Korea must have the right to use nuclear energy peacefully for agricultural, medical and power-generation purposes.
Chung told the online news site Media Daum the U.S. ¡°says that because North Korea broke the Geneva Accords, said it made nuclear weapons and broke its nuclear freeze, you cannot guarantee North Korea's peaceful use of nuclear energy, but we think differently.¡±
Chung's comments come within a day of U.S. President George W. Bush reiterating his opposition to a peaceful North Korean nuclear program.
But Chung said, "We have said even before the start of the six-party talks that if North Korea rejoins the Non-Proliferation Treaty and accepts IAEA inspections, it can naturally enjoy its rights as a member of the NPT." A government official explained Washington remained unwilling to let Pyongyang use nuclear energy peacefully even after it rejoins the NPT.
However, Chung said it was unlikely construction of a light-water reactor in North Korea would resume unless the U.S. transfers the technology. Announcing a proposal by Seoul to provide the North with free electricity, Chung earlier said plans for light-water reactor at Shinpo had been ¡°virtually suspended." The reason the South offered to provide 200 megawatts of power is that is the amount the light-water reactor would have been capable of producing. Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon, Seoul¡¯s chief negotiator at the six-party talks, on Wednesday told SBS that although Pyongyang was insisting on its right to use nuclear energy peacefully including in light-water reactors, it had never specifically asked for the Shinpo reactor to be built.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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