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The U.S. State Department had its hands full on Thursday trying to fend off persistent questions about remarks by South Korea¡¯s Unification Minister Chung Dong-young that there are ¡°differences¡± between Seoul and Washington over North Korea¡¯s peaceful use of nuclear energy. Chung said Pyongyang would ¡°naturally¡± have the right to peaceful nuclear technology if it rejoins the Non-Proliferation Treaty and readmits IAEA inspectors.
Asked by a reporter whether there was a rift, State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said, "There's no rift between the United States and South Korea. We are close allies. We are close partners in a broad bilateral relationship and particularly in our common approach to denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. And I think that kind of partnership was seen very clearly in 13 days of intensive negotiations in Beijing."
But the reporter did not let up, saying there was a ¡°direct conflict¡± between what U.S. chief negotiator Christopher Hill had been saying and the unification minister¡¯s remarks. Ereli tried to dodge the question by noting, "There's a negotiation going on."
The reporter pressed on. "I'm sorry, from that podium ¡¦ when we were asking about this question about North Korea's ability to use civilian nuclear capacity, you said it's not only the United States that's opposed to that, it's Japan and South Korea,¡± he said. ¡°We now have a statement by the unification minister of South Korea saying that's not true, so we're trying to get some clarity here." Ereli responded, "I'm not going to speak for the South Korean Unification Minister," but to no avail.
Pressed further, Ereli said he spoke ¡°for the United States Government. And for the United States Government, our views on civilian nuclear use, our views on the issue of denuclearization, I think, are very well known and I don't have any elaboration to make on it." He said resumption of work on a light-water reactor in North Korea was not worth considering.
Asked how likely it was that North Korea could turn a civilian program into a military one, Ereli said, "It's an issue that needs to be taken to account when moving forward and dealing with this issue of broader nuclear denuclearization or comprehensive denuclearization."
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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