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North Korea vows to remain nuclear
North Korea says it would not dismantle its nuclear facilities unless South Korea's nuclear establishments and arms deals are inspected. A spokesman for the North's General Chief of Staff said Monday that "denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula does not only mean Pyongyang's disarmament, but should also include verification of nuclear facilities in South Korea," the state's official KRT TV reported. North Korea demanded inspectors probe the South to make sure it is not harboring US atomic arms and verify the alleged nuclear facilities, as Pyongyang claims Washington has armed the state with nuclear weapons after the 1950-53 Korean War. After the war ended in a ceasefire rather that a peace treaty, he said the North and the South remained in a state of war and it was "a shameless act of imprudence," to believe that one side would willingly disarm. "As long as there is not any nuclear dismantlement in the South to clear nuclear threats from the United States, dismantlement to remove our nuclear arms won't materialize," the spokesman said amid stalled disarmament talks. In 2003, the six-nation talks, involving North Korea, South Korea, Russia, Japan, China and the United States, were launched to persuade North Korea into giving up its controversial nuclear program. The six-nation deal signed in 2007, offered energy aid to North Korea in exchange for the dismantling of Pyongyang's nuclear plants and the handover of its nuclear weapons and material. The talks, however, faced deadlock after North Korea refused to accept a system to verify its nuclear activities, arguing that the states should be given the chance to verify that US nuclear weapons have been withdrawn from South Korea. Posted by: Fred 2009-02-03 |
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