Patrick Goodenough, CNSNews.com
Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2003

The statement came after U.S., South Korean and Japanese officials held talks in Washington on North Korea's decision to restart its frozen nuclear program, and a day after the U.N.'s nuclear agency told Pyongyang to act urgently to reverse the move.

"The United States is willing to talk to North Korea about how it will meet its obligations to the international community," said the statement, released by the State Department.

"However," it added, "the U.S. delegation stressed that the United States will not provide quid pro quos to North Korea to live up to its existing obligations."

Earlier, government officials in Seoul had said the South Korean delegation to the Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group (TCOG) talks would suggest a compromise requiring the U.S. to offer written assurances of non-aggression if North Korea scraps the nuclear program.

Tuesday's statement made no mention of such a move on the part of the U.S., although it did reiterate President Bush's repeated verbal assurances that the U.S. has no intention of invading North Korea.

Some Asian media reports interpreted the stated willingness to talk as a U.S. back down from its stance that it would not resume dialogue until Pyongyang ends the program in a verifiable way.

One South Korean report characterized the development as a "tangible shift" on the part of the Americans, while another spoke of a "softening."

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told a press briefing, however, that what the U.S. would not do was to reopen and renegotiate an agreement reached in the past.

It was willing to talk to the North Koreans about how they could undo the steps taken recently and end its nuclear programs, he said.

Boucher could not say whether the U.S. would convey this message to the North Koreans privately.

"I have to stress, we are willing to have a dialogue; we are not willing to pay again for agreements and obligations that have been reached already."

In a 1994 agreement, North Korean undertook to freeze programs that could provide material used in nuclear weapons. Last October the U.S. accused it of violating the accord - several years ago already - by pursuing a uranium-enrichment program.

The U.S. and its allies then suspended the provision of heavy fuel oil to North Korea, after which the communist state announced it was restarting its frozen, plutonium-based program, and kicked out International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors.

Pyongyang's moves have been widely seen as a gamble aimed at winning new concessions and financial aid from the international community.

Improved Circumstances

While Tuesday's TCOG statement made it clear North Korea could expect no "quid pro quos" for compliance, it did hold out the prospect of improved circumstances for the impoverished and isolated country.

"Elimination of the nuclear weapons programs by North Korea would provide an opportunity to return to a better path leading toward improved relations with the international community," it said.

On Monday, the IAEA's governing board unanimously passed a resolution calling on North Korea to reverse its recent steps as a matter of urgency.

The resolutions made no reference to consequences if the North Koreans failed to comply, but IAEA director general Mohammed El Baradei said afterwards if they did not do so within a matter of weeks, the agency would report the matter to the U.N. Security Council.

That could lead to the imposition of economic sanctions or other punitive measures.

Pyongyang said Tuesday it would consider any steps against its economic interests tantamount to a declaration of war.

"Sanctions mean a war and the war knows no mercy," the regime said through its official KCNA news agency.

"The U.S. should opt for dialogue with [North Korea], not for war, clearly aware that it will have to pay a very high price for such reckless acts," it declared.

Copyright CNSNews.com

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