Carter calls for three-way talks to resolve North Korea nuke issue

지미 카터 전 미국 대통령이 “조건 없는 남북정상회담이 북핵 문제 해결에 도움이 될 것”이라고 말했다. 카터 전 대통령은 22일 오후 한나라당 국제위원장인 홍정욱 의원과 만나 자리에서 ‘북한이 핵 폐기 의사를 갖고 있다고 보느냐’는 질문에 “진정성이 있다고 믿는다” 고 말했다.



을 알고 싶다면 북미 고위급 직접 대화가 있어야 하고 미국의 대북 불가침 약속 또는 조약이 전제돼야 할 것”이라며 “2.13 합의대로 하면 관계 정상화가 가능하고, 경제 제재도 풀릴 수 있다고 북측에 알리고 어떻게 행동할 지를 지켜볼 필요가 있다”고 덧붙였다.





Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter yesterday called for Washington to invite South Korea to sit in when it holds talks with North Korea to discuss Pyongyang`s nuclear weapons programs.

"My own opinion is that the U.S. should insist that South Korea should sit in. I don`t see any reason why the United States and North Korea cannot have top-level talks, with the United States insisting that South Korea sit in," Carter said in an interview with Rep. Hong Jung-wook of the ruling Grand National Party. Hong is the former publisher of The Korea Herald.

North Korea has so far insisted on direct, bilateral meetings with the United States, insisting it was the only way that its nuclear weapons programs may be ended.

The former U.S. president said Washington should be open to direct contact with the North Koreans, as it was time someone reached out to them to find out what they really wanted.

"The thing that concerns me is that no one from the outside world, since Kim Dae-jung, that has talked to them on an equal status with respect has asked what can we do to have harmonious relations with North Korea. I think that if the United States wants to find out about the limits to which North Korea might go, then direct bilateral discussions at a higher level would be appropriate," Carter said.



An agreement guaranteeing the North that Washington would not attack as long as Pyongyang does not lash out at its neighbors - namely South Korea and China - could be necessary in drawing North Korea out to discussions, he said.

Carter added, however, that for North Korea`s part, it must meet the conditions stipulated in an agreement reached on Feb. 13, 2005.

"I think we should insist on the 2005 agreement of the six-party talks being implemented. That is, the peninsula be denuclearized," he said.

Pyongyang has recently been calling for direct talks with Washington since late last year, even after its initial wishes were granted when U.S. special envoy Stephen Bosworth visited Pyongyang for a rare visit.

The North has been clamoring for follow-up talks. They also have said economic sanctions levied by the United Nations must be lifted before they come out to another round of the stalled six-party talks, while a peace treaty must be discussed ahead of everything else.

Pyongyang, on the other hand, has been ignoring Seoul.

Relations between the two Koreas have fared poorly under the more conservative Lee Myung-bak administration.

This is why Carter pointed out that while an inter-Korean summit may help denuclearization, a U.S. role would be critical.

The former president made an unprecedented visit to Pyongyang in June 1994 on the invitation of former North Korean leader Kim Il-sung.

His visit resulted in the now-defunct Agreed Framework.

Carter yesterday said he believed that despite the current nuclear situation, North Korea was still willing to abandon its nuclear arsenal.

The former U.S. leader is in Korea this week to give talks on peninsular peace. This is his first visit since 2001.

(jemmie@heraldm.com)



By Kim Ji-hyun