South Korean Foreign Minister says Nuclear Talks with North at Risk | Voice of America - English
South Korea's chief diplomat says a diplomatic process aimed at getting rid of North Korea's nuclear weapons is at risk if Pyongyang continues on its current path.  As VOA's Kurt Achin reports from Seoul, the North's moves to resume activity at its main nuclear reactor could end up isolating and impoverishing the country even further.
SouthKorean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said Friday North Korea isputting at risk the diplomatic effort that has been some five years inthe making. Referring to a six-nation talks process aimed atending North Korea's nuclear weapons, Yu says we are in a difficultsituation where we may have to return to square one. Since 2003,South Korea has joined the United States, Russia, China, and Japan inoffering the North incentives to end its nuclear weapons programs. North Korea signed an agreement last year to declare those programs andbegan disabling its main nuclear facility at Yongbyon, with muchbroader disarmament steps to come in the future. However, thismonth North Korea said it was in the process of restarting Yongbyon,and it ejected international inspectors and their surveillanceequipment from the plant's reprocessing facility. Foreign Minister Yu says the North's actions may have a political angle. Hesays it is possible that the North's decision to reverse itsdisablement is a strategy linked to the upcoming U.S. presidentialelection. Michael Green is a former national security advisor toPresident Bush, and is now affiliated with Republican presidentialcandidate John McCain. He told a forum in Seoul Friday he thinksit is very unlikely there will be progress in the six nation talksuntil the U.S. election is resolved. He also says there is a goodchance North Korea is considering steps to take to try to raise itsbargaining leverage with the new administration. "Incrementallythey may try to move toward reprocessing of the remaining spent fuelrods... and they may also try rebuilding their five megawatt reactorand other facilities. And I believe we should signal to them veryclearly that if they go down that path... the situation for them willbe worse," he said. North Korea tested a nuclear weapon twoyears ago, causing unanimous support for a strict sanctions resolutionat the United Nations. Green points out the international communityhas not seriously implemented the resolution, because the Northreturned to talks. He says that could change, if North Korea continuesto reverse its nuclear promises.