North Korea is taking a tough line toward the six-country nuclear disarmament talks, but it has “no immediate potential” to restart its nuclear reactor, the top US negotiator said on Monday.
Diplomat Christopher Hill echoed US President George W. Bush’s concerns about North Korean moves to reactivate the plutonium-producing reactor at Yongbyon, but dismissed any suggestion that the negotiations were unraveling.
“They’ve been staking out some very tough negotiating positions ... so yes the negotiating process does continue,” Hill told reporters in New York. “Clearly we’re seeing a tough line from them in the last month.”
He said it was “hard to tell” whether reports over the last month of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s poor health were related to the “rather rough and tumble moment” in the talks.
Kim, 66, has not been seen in public since Aug. 14 and he missed a major military parade earlier this month. South Korean intelligence leaks say he suffered a stroke.
Pyongyang confirmed on Friday that it was working to restart the plutonium-producing reactor. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Monday that North Korea had asked it to remove seals and surveillance equipment from the complex.
Hill declined to comment on the IAEA report, but doubted that North Korea could quickly get the site going again, saying it could take months to reactivate the reprocessing plant and more than a year for the whole reactor complex.
“I don’t think there is any immediate potential for restarting the thing,” he said.
Hill said US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice “had a wide-ranging good discussion” with South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and that she would be meeting other participants in New York from the six-party process.
He said the players in the six-party process had to consult each other about the “best way forward,” adding that talks would take place in New York this week and more talks would take place next week.
Rice was also due to discuss the North Korean issue with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi (楊潔箎) over dinner on Monday, US officials said.
Bush expressed concern to Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) on Sunday over North Korea’s plans, White House Spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.
“The two presidents agreed that they would work hard to convince the North to continue down the path established in the six-party talks toward denuclearization,” Johndroe said.
China yesterday urged “flexibility” in the North Korean nuclear dispute.
China’s response to Pyongyang’s latest moves was characteristically cautious.
“Under the present circumstances, we hope the concerned parties [will] enhance contacts and show flexibility and together make efforts to resolve the salient problems as soon as possible,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu (姜瑜) told a regular news conference.
China has hosted the six-way talks since 2003 and generally avoids harsh words against the North. South Korea, the US, Japan and Russia also participate in the stop-start negotiations.
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