- PYONGYANG -- North Korea
called on Europe to prevent the peninsula from becoming a "second
Iraq" yesterday, as Pyongyang's scepticism grows about the credibility
of six-party talks aimed at resolving its year-long nuclear standoff with
the US.
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- In a rare interview with the overseas media, the foreign
ministry spokesman, So Chol, expressed doubts to the Guardian about
Pyongyang's
participation in a round of negotiations scheduled for next month. He said
US officials viewed the North as an "evil" country which must
disarm without precondition.
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- He was referring to a speech in Seoul this month by the
US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, who called Kim Jong-il a military
dictator who ran an evil regime which starved its people. The North Korean
media responded by calling Mr Rumsfeld a "political pygmy" who
was worse than Adolf Hitler.
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- Mr So said the comments went beyond name-calling.
"If
these speeches show the official stance of the United States, I'm worried
about whether the six-party talks will reopen again," he said.
-
- "We cannot participate in talks without the support
of our people and our army, but these speeches are making them
angry."
-
- Neither side showed much willingness to concede ground
during the first round of six-party talks in Beijing in August.
-
- The first gathering of the main players in the final
cold war conflict - China, the US, Russia, Japan and the two Koreas - ended
with accusations traded about the failure to agree even on how to
proceed.
-
- Washington now demands that North Korea abandon its
nuclear
weapons programme before any reciprocal gestures can be made, while
Pyongyang
insists that steps should be taken simultaneously.
-
- North Korea was recently tempted to return to talks by
George Bush's offer of a written non-aggression guarantee.
-
- "If this came from a genuine intention to accept
peaceful coexistence, we were willing to consider it," Mr So said.
"But now we hear double talk. On one hand we hear peaceful
reassurances,
and on the other hand we hear people vilifying us.
-
- "It is very hard for us to judge the real intention
of the US, so I don't know if further talks can be held."
-
- Mr So's comments could be part of the "smoke and
mirrors" strategy that both sides employ before each round of talks,
but they also reflect the sides' dismal lack of mutual
understanding.
-
- North Korea has swayed between bellicose threats to
develop
its nuclear deterrent and offers of peace talks. Divisions in the Bush
administration have led the US to give out conflicting signals.
-
- China, North Korea's closest ally, is exerting political
pressure and offering financial incentives for it to return to talks.
Diplomats
in Beijing and Seoul say the most likely date for a new round of talks
is December 17-19 - but Pyongyang-based observers say it is far from
certain
that North Korea will attend.
-
- Neither side appears to be in any hurry to resolve the
differences. President Bush has said he loathes President Kim and will
never reward his nuclear blackmail, but with the US military bogged down
in Iraq the Pentagon is opposed to the opening of a second front. To Mr
Kim, atomic bombs look like his best bet to avoid the fate of Saddam
Hussein.
-
- Stuck in a dangerous rut, North Korean officials are
calling on Europe to intercede - and they are not above exploiting the
divisions that have developed in the west over Iraq. Pyongyang's latest
warning comes shortly before an EU delegation visits the capital.
-
- "If Europe hopes to avoid a second war on the
peninsula,
they must seriously exert influence on the US to remove Korea's
concerns,"
Mr So said.
-
- "If they continue to press us to unilaterally
abandon
our nuclear deterrent without pushing the US to give up its hostile policy
against us, it is tantamount to accepting that Korea should suffer the
same fate as Iraq.
-
- "It is like saying that Europe wants to see blood
shed on the peninsula."
-
- With the standoff in its 13th month, both sides are
digging
back into their familiar cold war positions. The difference now is that
North Korea claims to have a nuclear bargaining chip.
-
- "The nuclear deterrent is necessary for our
self-defence,"
Mr So said. "We will continue to enhance it until the US abandons
its hostile policy towards us."
-
- "We are prepared for peace, but we are also prepared
for war."
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- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2003
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- http://www.guardian.co.uk/korea/article/0,2763,1095749,00.html
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