Lee Soo-hyuck, head of the Republic of Korea (ROK) delegation to
the third round of six-party talks, said in Beijing Wednesday
evening that the ROK delegation had proposed detailed plans on
resolving the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue. Speaking at the press
conference, Lee, ROK deputy minister of foreign affairs and trade,
said that the ROK delegation had proposed detailed plans and
corresponding measures on the abandonment of the nuclear
programs.?
He said the abandonment should meet two conditions: Firstly, the
DPRK should, under international supervision, completely abolish
all the nuclear programs, including the uranium enrichment
program.
Secondly, he said, as the first step of abandoning the nuclear
programs, the DPRK should freeze all its nuclear programs by fixed
time, seal up relevant materials and freeze relevant facilities
under international supervision.
Lee said if the DPRK froze the nuclear programs, the ROK would
propose the following three measures in return:
First, the ROK will provide the DPRK with heavy fuel oil.
Second, the United States would provide a guarantee in written form
on ensuring the DPRK's security, including removing hostility
against the DPRK and making a non-aggression promise. And thirdly,
the United States would hold consultations with the DPRK on
removing it from the black list of countries supporting terrorism
and slowing down sanctions toward the DPRK.
Lee said the ROK hoped all parties could coordinate with each
other and reach an understanding to create an environment for
resolving the nuclear issue.
Heads of the delegations all delivered keynote speeches on
Wednesday afternoon. Lee said that however, due to time limit, only
the delegations of the DPRK, the United States and the ROK
expounded on their respective stances afterwards. The conference
progressed in a sincere and pragmatic atmosphere.
He said there were no differences between the US and ROK on the
major orientations and principles on resolving the nuclear issue,
and the two parties had kept a close and coordinated relationship.
Lee said he held talks respectively with DPRK delegation head Kim
Kye-gwan and Russian delegation head Alexander Alexeyev on
Wednesday morning, and the delegation heads from the ROK, the
United States and Japan had a three-party consultation on Wednesday
afternoon prior to the opening ceremony of the talks.
(Xinhua News Agency June 24, 2004)