The South Korean chief negotiator for the six-party talks Chun
Young-woo said on Tuesday that the upcoming six-party talks should
focus on the denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.
"We should avoid overloading the agenda of the six-party talks,"
Chun said in a speech at a forum, urging Pyongyang to commit to
last year's joint statement, in which Pyongyang promised to abandon
its nuclear program in return for security guarantees and economic
assistance.
The bilateral issues between North Korea and related countries
should be shunned at the six-party talks, Chun stressed.
The financial dispute between Pyongyang and Washington lasting
more than a year has proved to be one of the biggest obstacles to
the disarmament talks, Chun said.
North Korea has demanded that the United States lift its
sanction on North Korea's accounts in a Macau-based bank, Banco
Delta Asia (BDA), since last year. The US accused the North Korea
of using the account in alleged counterfeiting, money laundering,
and other illicit activities.
"As the BDA has demonstrated, bringing thorny bilateral issues
into the six-party talks can hold back the denuclearization
process," Chun said.
Chun also appealed that all parties concerned with the talks
should make efforts to build up trust, saying that the North Korea
should demonstrate its genuine commitment to denuclearization by
taking bold, concrete steps to implement its obligations under the
joint statement reached on Sept. 19 last year.
North Korea should seize a "historic opportunity" at the
six-party talks, Chun added.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that the second
phase of the fifth round of the six-party talks on the Korean
Peninsula nuclear issues will be launched next Monday. The last
session of the six-party talks, involving China, the North Korea,
South Korea, the United States, Russia and Japan was held in
November last year.
(Xinhua News Agency December 12, 2006)