Jul 20, 2007 5:14 pm US/Eastern
North Korea Wants Light Water Reactors For Power
Envoy Says Pyongyang Should Be Rewarded For Dismantling Nuclear Program
BEIJING (AP) ―
North Korea's nuclear envoy said Saturday that his country should be given reactors to generate power as a reward
for eventually dismantling its own atomic programs.
"In order to ultimately dismantle (the nuclear programs), light-water reactors should be given" to the North, Kim Kye Gwan
told reporters before leaving Beijing, referring to a type of nuclear reactor that cannot be easily used to make bombs.
Six-nation talks on the North's nuclear weapons programs ended Friday without setting any target date for the North to simply
disable its nuclear facilities -- on the way to eventual dismantlement -- following the shutdown of its sole operating
reactor a week ago.
The North had been promised two light-water reactors for power under a 1994 disarmament deal with the U.S. But that agreement fell apart in 2002 when Washington accused Pyongyang of embarking on a secret uranium enrichment program, sparking the latest standoff.
The U.S. and the other countries in the arms talks -- China, Japan, Russia and South Korea -- have agreed to discuss providing the North with light-water reactors at an appropriate time. Washington has insisted that would only be after Pyongyang has rejoined the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty that it quit in early 2003.
The North's Kim still praised the outcome of latest arms talks, but said time had not been sufficient to set a new deadline for the next step in Pyongyang's disarmament process. Instead, working groups will meet by the end of August to discuss technical details of future disarmament.
"In order to set a deadline, we have to clearly define the obligations of each side and sequence corresponding actions," Kim
said. "Time was not enough and preparations were not enough this time."
"The talks went well, the discussions went well and I think the outcome is good," he said, adding that the North pledged to
"sincerely implement" previous agreements from the negotiations.
However, the longtime North Korean nuclear negotiator leveled harsh words at Japan, which has refused to contribute aid for disarmament to the communist nation until it addresses abductions of Japanese citizens -- an issue Pyongyang has claimed it has already resolved.
"Japan is creating a crisis of infringing upon our national sovereignty," said Kim, who met with his Japanese counterpart
Kenichiro Sasae in a one-on-one session amid the latest arms talks. "If Japan takes one more step further, I warned that will be a disaster."
(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
