Vershbow says Washington sees North Korea as military threat

Top U.S. envoy here said his country could not avoid the fact that North Korea is a "military threat," hurling further strong invectives at the communist state that is threatening to boycott the six-party talks on its nuclear ambitions.

"Despite our best efforts to engage with North Korea, and despite our best intentions, we cannot turn our faces away from the fact that North Korea remains a military threat, with over million troops, claims to possess nuclear weapons, and has near-total control of its own people," Alexander Vershbow said at a forum hosted by the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy.

"It remains to be seen whether North Korea is truly prepared to eliminate its nuclear programs, and to do so in a prompt and verifiable manner. If they are, as President Bush and President Roh stated in Gyeongju, we are prepared to move forward on other aspects of the September 19 joint statement, including discussions for a permanent peace regime on the Korean Peninsula," the ambassador said.

In a separate occasion, South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said he was pessimistic about early normalization of talks between the relevant parties on the nuclear issue.

"I believe it would be realistically difficult to hold the gathering of the six-party delegates on Jeju Island, a meeting that we have been pushing unofficially for this month," Ban told reporters while in Malaysia accompanying President Roh Moo-hyun.

Seoul has been urging chief delegates to the nuclear negotiations to informally gather on the southern island to talk freely before resuming the official six-party talks.

In regard to the reopening of the talks, Ban said the negotiations should resume at least before the Lunar New Year holiday next year.

The Lunar New Year celebrated by both Koreas and China falls on Jan. 29 next year.

(angiely@heraldm.com)



By Lee Joo-hee