 
CHANNELS SPACEWAR WIRE MILITARY SPACE UAV NEWS MILITARY COMMS CYBERWARS MISSILE NEWS RAYGUNS TERRORWARS SPACEDAILY TERRADAILY MARSDAILY SPACE TRAVEL SPACEMART SPACE DATABASE  SERVICES |  
North Korea said Monday it "had nothing to expect" from a fresh round of six-nation talks because of what it calls a hardline US policy on a stand-off over the communist state's nuclear drive. Such skepticism from the North's foreign ministry spokesman came after a third round of talks ended in Beijing in June without tangible progress. A new round is due by the end of September. The spokesman told the state-run Korean Central News Agency a series of tough US stances on the nuclear stand-off "stuns and disappoints" Pyongyang. "It is clear that there would be nothing to expect even if the DPRK (North Korea) sits at the negotiating table with the US under the present situation," the spokesman told the agency monitored here. He hinted that Pyongyang might fail to attend a working-group meeting to prepare for new talks, if Washington keeps refusing to reward the freezing of North Korean nuclear facilities while toughening terms and conditions. "The US has destroyed itself the foundation for the talks, making it impossible for the DPRK to go to the forthcoming meeting of the working group." But the spokesman fell short of threatening that North Korea would scupper the preparatory meeting or the full-session talks, saying Pyongyang would "make sustained efforts for the peaceful settlement" to the issue. The stand-off over North Korea's quest for nuclear weapons erupted in October 2002 when the United States accused Pyongyang of operating a nuclear weapons program based on enriched uranium, violating the 1994 nuclear freeze of its separate plutonium producing program. Pyongyang has denied running the uranium-based program, but has again fired up its once-mothballed plutonium-based program. Little progress has been made at the previous three rounds of talks which brought together the United States, the two Koreas, China, Japan and Russia in Beijing in an effort to resolve the impasse. US intelligence authorities say North Korea is believed to possess at least one or two nuclear bombs. 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
|
|
| 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 |