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In an interview with Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper, President Roh Moo-hyun said mutual trust had to be established before a peace treaty could be concluded with North Korea. "(The concerned parties) are supposed to make promises that each can trust, declare peace and an end to the war when those promises reach a trustworthy level, and afterwards conduct peace talks and nuclear dismantlement simultaneously, aren't they?" Roh said.
When asked if North Korea's renunciation of nuclear weapons and programs is a precondition to a peace declaration, Roh said, "Of course it is. But it will take a substantially long time for the North to give them up. It would be unrealistic to begin peace talks only after the North gives all of them up completely."
In the interview published in its Saturday edition, the Asahi Shimbun said that Roh's remarks differ from the U.S. position that North Korea's denuclearization is a precondition to declaring the war over.
Roh said he knew nothing about North Korea's suspected transfer of nuclear technologies to Syria. "I've neither seen evidence nor heard of any explanation about it," the President said. "The six-party talks are a key process for the solution to the North Korean nuclear issue. The talks should not be ruptured due to an unclear issue and a minor hindrance."
Asked about the possibility of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's visit to Seoul, Roh said, "Chairman Kim would feel very embarrassed if he were to experience a public demonstration (against his visit), considering that he has never faced opposition before."
Roh told the newspaper that his experience in office has changed his approach to Seoul-Tokyo relations. "I still believe that Japan is very important for the future of both the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia. But if I was an idealist during my early presidency, I am now a realist. At first, I thought former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi was a passionate politician. He was a straightforward person. So I expected him to make aggressive decisions. But I found this thinking of mine was, on the contrary, naive."
Meanwhile, Roh said, "The core of the North Korean nuclear issue resulted from mistaken perceptions of danger on the part of the two sides (Washington and Pyongyang). The U.S. is not as dangerous as North Korea thinks it to be. And North Korea is not as dangerous as the U.S. believes it to be." But the Asahi Shimbun did not publish these remarks in the report.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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