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North Korea's chief delegate in stalled six-party talks on the country's nuclear ambitions has hinted a continuing delay in the talks is no problem for Pyongyang since it can always make more nuclear weapons. Kim Kye-gwan said the North can ¡°always take stronger measure¡± after being snubbed by his U.S. counterpart Christopher Hill during a security conference they both attended in Tokyo. In a meeting with the press in the Japanese capital, Kim also reiterated demands that the U.S. must lift financial sanctions against the North before the talks can resume.
Excerpts follow.
- How do you feel about the failure to meet with the U.S. at the North East Asia Cooperation Dialogue forum?
I have said on many occasions that the freeze on the Macau bank must be lifted before we rejoin talks; the U.S. is well aware of this. If the frozen funds from the Banco Delta Asia [which Washington says was North Korea¡¯s primary money-laundering concern] are placed in my hands, it will be settled. The moment those funds are in my hands is the moment that we will head back to the talks. There can be no yielding on this issue.
- If there can be no concessions, how will the nuclear issue be resolved?
We have made all the concessions that we can for denuclearization. The U.S. said that it had its reasons, so we announced our intention to give up nuclear weapons [in a joint statement in the last round of six-party talks in September]. But they interpreted it as a weakness, and what did they do to us? They froze our accounts in Macau.
- What must the U.S. do to bring your country to the six-party talks?
¡°If the U.S. tries to pressure us, we will only take stronger measures. We will employ our traditional tactic of direct confrontation. How can the negotiations be possible without our participation? Talk as much as you wish. It won't bring about our denuclearization. The U.S. is abusing the counterfeiting issue. Americans see us as people who submit to pressure. We are not that kind of people.
- What do you think were the goals and accomplishments of this visit to Japan?
We tried to meet Christopher Hill to confirm the U.S.¡¯s final position, but in the end we could not meet with him. Now we know what the U.S. position is. And it has only cemented our resolution. Not meeting him was in fact a great accomplishment.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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