Enjoy Discounted Exercise Equipment From Leading Sales Outlets
SEARCH IT

CHANNELS
Encyclopedia Astronautica
SERVICES
 
Spacer Homebase
North Korea nuclear offer "positive": Powell
WASHINGTON (AFP) Jan 06, 2004
US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday he was encouraged by North Korea's offer not to produce or test nuclear weapons, raising fresh hopes for a breakthrough in the crisis.

"This is an interesting step on their part, a positive step, and we hope that it will allow us to move more rapidly to six-party framework talks," Powell told reporters.

"I am encouraged, I am encouraged by the statement the North Koreans made," he said.

North Korea offered earlier to refrain from testing and producing nuclear weapons in what it said was a "bold concession" to the United States aimed at ending the nuclear crisis.

As two unofficial US delegations headed for Pyongyang for a tour billed to include a rare visit to North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear complex, the Stalinist state spelled out its proposal for a nuclear freeze.

North Korea "is set to refrain from test and production of nuclear weapons and stop even operating nuclear power industry for a peaceful purpose as first-phase measures of the package solution. This cannot but be one more bold concession," Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said.

Powell put a positive spin on the delay in convening a new round of six-nation crisis talks, first pencilled in for December, but according to Japanese and South Korean officials could now slip back to next month at the earliest.

"Because we're not sitting at a table, does not mean we have not been talking to each other, and a lot of papers have gone back and forth," he said.

"We are in touch with our four partners in this effort and some of our partners are directly in touch with North Korea. So we've been doing a lot."

The United States has demanded an irrevocable and verifiable decision by North Korea to abandon its quest for nuclear weapons.

On Monday it warned the Stalinist state that it could expect no rewards from Washington just for showing up at talks, also involving China, Russia, South Korea and Japan.

One potential stumbling block is that North Korea's offer included a condition that Washington would deliver "simultaneous" actions including removing North Korea from a State Department list of countries accused of sponsoring terrorism, lifting sanctions and resuming energy aid.

Washington has rejected North Korea's plan for "simultaneous" measures and maintains that it is only willing to discuss "sequencing" of steps to aid Pyongyang at the six-nation talks, not before them.

South Korean government officials said the latest proposal from Pyongyang appeared to contain nothing new but signalled North Korea's desire for dialogue.

Another signal from North Korea came as members of an unofficial US delegation arrived in Pyongyang at the invitation of the Stalinist state.

The team included a former US official who dealt with North Korea policy, a scientist and a top academic.

Another delegation, from Congress, was also heading for Pyongyang.

Efforts to reconvene nuclear crisis talks following the inconclusive first round in Beijing last August have so far failed with Washington accusing North Korea of setting preconditions and Pyongyang saying the United States is time-wasting and refusing to consider its proposals.

All rights reserved. Copyright 2003 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

Quick Links
SpaceWar
Search SpaceWar
Subscribe To SpaceWar Express

SpaceWar Search Engine
SUBSCRIBE TO THE SPACEWAR NEWSLETTER
SubscribeUnsubscribe
  

WAR.WIRE
  • Summer comes early for Iraq as temperatures soar in south
  • Merz warns of Russia threat, vows to defend NATO allies on Lithuania visit
  • French general takes command of NATO mission in Iraq
  • Iran says will hold US responsible for any Israeli attack on its nuclear sites
  • Myanmar ex-general slain in attack claimed by anti-coup fighters
  • Summer comes early for Iraq with 49 degrees Celsius in Basra
  • Merz warns of Russia threat in visit to NATO's eastern flank
  • Merz on Lithuania visit says Russia threatens 'security in Europe'
  • Japan shows off futuristic 'railgun' at defence expo
  • Ukrainian drone attacks halt flights at Moscow airports
    SPACEDAILY NEWS
     Feb 11, 2005
  • NASA Observations Help Determine Titan Wind Speeds
  • Cassini Spacecraft Witnesses Saturn's Blues
  • US Orientation Engine Fails On ISS
  • NASA Names Two Future Space Shuttle Crews
  • Simulations Show How Growing Black Holes Regulate Galaxy Formation
  • In The Stars: Odd Stars, Odder Planets
  • Natural Climate Change May Be Larger Than Commonly Thought
  • Earth Gets A Warm Feeling All Over
  • Satamatics Flying At Over 50,000 Terminals
  • Digital Angel To Expand OuterLink Subsidiary's Flight Tracking System
  • LockMart Delivers First Modernized GPS Satellite To USAF For May Launch
  • World's Fastest Oscillating Nanomachine Holds Promise For Quantum Computing
  • Carnegie Mellon's Red Team Seeks $2 Million Robot Racing Prize
  • Kionix Ships The World's Smallest High-Performance Tri-Axis Accelerometer
  • Northrop Grumman/Raytheon Team To Compete For GOES-R System
  • Blue Planet: The Fading Songs Of Whales
  • New Cameras Turn Night Into Day
  • North Korea Suspends Talks, Says It Will Build More Nuclear Bombs
  • Analysis: How Super Is The Superpower?
  • Walker's World: Why Rice Should Thank Zarqawi
  • NATO Agrees Expansion Of Afghan Force
  • North Korea Probably Bluffing Over Nuclear Threat: Australia
  • US Options Seen Limited Against Nuclear-Armed North Korea
  • Six Iraqi Policemen Killed, US Helicopters Fire Missiles To End Siege
  • Germany And Malaysia Urge Peace In Tsunami-Ravaged Aceh
  • Task Of Collecting Indonesia's Tsunami Dead Will Take Six Months: Red Cross
  • EU Brings Forward Preferential Trade Scheme For Developing Countries
  • Cambodia's Former Forestry Monitor Blasts World Bank Over Logging
  • Thales Posts Lower Sales In 2004, Missing Own Target
  • Rolls-Royce Profits Rise; Orders At Record Levels

  • The contents herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2002 - SpaceDaily. AFP Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement