Deepening its nuclear standoff with the United States, North Korea said Monday that it may insist on the withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea as part of a nuclear disarmament deal.
North Korea said it would push the new demands if the United States failed to drop its own demand that Pyongyang "completely, verifiably and irreversibly" dismantle its nuclear weapons programs. North Korea has said it is willing to give up its nuclear program in return for energy and economic aid, as well as a U.S. guarantee it would not invade the communist country. But six-nation talks aimed at brokering a deal ended last month without a major breakthrough. Sides differed over what programs and nuclear sites would be subject to dismantling and inspection, South Korean officials have said. In a dispatch carried Monday by the country's official KCNA news agency, North Korea said if the United States continues to insist on complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement, it would offer its own counter-demands. "We too cannot but demand the complete withdrawal of U.S. military stationed in South Korea in a verifiable manner, and also a complete verifiable and irreversible security guarantee," the report said. North Korea frequently demands that the United States remove its troops from South Korea, but attaching them to the nuclear issue would also be a new move. The United States keep 37,000 soldiers in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.
| Sure boys, go ahead and demand. In the meantime, we're off to dinner. Steak and taters. Ummmm. |
The new demands, if brought to the negotiating table, could complicate the next round of six-nation talks between the United States, the two Koreas, China, Russia and Japan. The sides agreed to hold another round before July and have planned to hold working-level meeting before then to iron out details. The KCNA report, citing a commentary in the state-run Rodong Sinmun, said Washington was trying to soften the country's defenses ahead of a planned war. "If the United States drops its demand that North Korea first give up its nuclear program and switches its hostile policy toward DPRK, there would be dramatic progress in resolving the issue."
| Oh, no need to be so dramatic! Pass the fruit salad? |
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