Enjoy Discounted Exercise Equipment From Leading Sales Outlets
SEARCH IT

CHANNELS
Encyclopedia Astronautica
SERVICES
 
Spacer Homebase
Russia denies NKorea threatened nuclear test at crisis talks
MOSCOW (AFP) Aug 29, 2003
Russia's top negotiator on North Korea on Friday denied claims by US officials that Pyongyang had threatened to conduct a nuclear test during crisis talks in Beijing.

His comments appeared to be aimed at calming the heated atmosphere between Washington and North Korea after Pyongyang vowed to strengthen its nuclear arsenal if Washington failed to provide guarantees for the security of the regime.

"The North Korean delegation did not make such a declaration" at the Beijing talks, RIA Novosti quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov as saying.

Earlier Washington officials had said that a defiant North Korea threatened to formally declare itself a nuclear power and conduct a nuclear test in the near future.

They said North Korea's envoy to the talks, Kim Yong-Il, made the bombshell declaration in front of the US delegation and envoys from Russia, China, South Korea and Japan on talks on the 10-month-old nuclear crisis.

But Russia's top Asia hand suggested that US officials had misunderstood Kim's comments even as the official North Korean news agency issued a statement that closely corroborated Washington's report.

"I think the North Koreans were stating that if they continue to feel a threat coming from the United States or other nations, then they will need to continue working to strengthen their national security, including in its nuclear program," he was quoted a saying by RIA Novosti.

"Only then they might show us something," he said in reference to a nuclear test.

"But there were no such threats from North Korea at the six-way talks," Losyukov stressed.

Losyukov spoke moments before Pyongyang's own KCNA mouthpiece said the North already has a nuclear weapon and will step up its program if Washington failed to issue the Stalinist state a formal security guarantee.

"In this case the DPRK (North Korea) cannot dismantle its nuclear deterrent force but will have no option but to increase it."

Russia, viewed as one of the few remaining allies of North Korea, was taking part in multilateral talks for the first time.

Losyukov made several misleading statements to the Russian press during the meeting.

He predicted Thursday, for example, that the six nations would conclude their three-day talks Friday by signing a joint communique -- which they did not do.

Losyukov also said all sides had agreed to meet again within two months in Beijing to continue the negotiations. Several other diplomats said such negotiations should continue but were cautious not to specify a date or location.

On Friday, the Russian official predicted that the US-North Korean standoff might at some point be discussed among the six nations' heads of state.

"Most likely, it will become necessary at a certain stage to raise the level of negotiations to the very highest -- using direct contacts between heads of state," Losyukov said.

But he again stressed there were "no dramatic developments" in Beijing as had been suggested by US officials.

Losyukov also said the North Korean delegation had at one point "expressed doubts about the need for continuing the negotiation" and threatened to walk out on the talks -- as did during their previous contact with US officials in China. "But in the end they did not," he said.

All rights reserved. Copyright 2003 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

Quick Links
SpaceWar
Search SpaceWar
Subscribe To SpaceWar Express

SpaceWar Search Engine
SUBSCRIBE TO THE SPACEWAR NEWSLETTER
SubscribeUnsubscribe
  

WAR.WIRE
  • Pentagon chief in Panama vows to counter China 'threat'
  • Trump tells US to 'be cool' as China, EU strike back
  • Iraq signs deal with US firm to produce 24,000 MW of electricity
  • US imposes new sanctions on Iran nuclear program before talks
  • Yemen rebel media says US strikes on Hodeida killed 10: new toll
  • Iran's expanding nuclear programme: from 2015 deal to today
  • Race to save Sweden's 17th century warship in preservation project
  • Lithuanian volunteer fighter killed in Ukraine
  • Yemen rebels say US strikes on Hodeida killed eight
  • US Pentagon chief says will not let China 'threaten' Panama Canal
    SPACEDAILY NEWS
     Feb 11, 2005
  • NASA Observations Help Determine Titan Wind Speeds
  • Cassini Spacecraft Witnesses Saturn's Blues
  • US Orientation Engine Fails On ISS
  • NASA Names Two Future Space Shuttle Crews
  • Simulations Show How Growing Black Holes Regulate Galaxy Formation
  • In The Stars: Odd Stars, Odder Planets
  • Natural Climate Change May Be Larger Than Commonly Thought
  • Earth Gets A Warm Feeling All Over
  • Satamatics Flying At Over 50,000 Terminals
  • Digital Angel To Expand OuterLink Subsidiary's Flight Tracking System
  • LockMart Delivers First Modernized GPS Satellite To USAF For May Launch
  • World's Fastest Oscillating Nanomachine Holds Promise For Quantum Computing
  • Carnegie Mellon's Red Team Seeks $2 Million Robot Racing Prize
  • Kionix Ships The World's Smallest High-Performance Tri-Axis Accelerometer
  • Northrop Grumman/Raytheon Team To Compete For GOES-R System
  • Blue Planet: The Fading Songs Of Whales
  • New Cameras Turn Night Into Day
  • North Korea Suspends Talks, Says It Will Build More Nuclear Bombs
  • Analysis: How Super Is The Superpower?
  • Walker's World: Why Rice Should Thank Zarqawi
  • NATO Agrees Expansion Of Afghan Force
  • North Korea Probably Bluffing Over Nuclear Threat: Australia
  • US Options Seen Limited Against Nuclear-Armed North Korea
  • Six Iraqi Policemen Killed, US Helicopters Fire Missiles To End Siege
  • Germany And Malaysia Urge Peace In Tsunami-Ravaged Aceh
  • Task Of Collecting Indonesia's Tsunami Dead Will Take Six Months: Red Cross
  • EU Brings Forward Preferential Trade Scheme For Developing Countries
  • Cambodia's Former Forestry Monitor Blasts World Bank Over Logging
  • Thales Posts Lower Sales In 2004, Missing Own Target
  • Rolls-Royce Profits Rise; Orders At Record Levels

  • The contents herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2002 - SpaceDaily. AFP Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement