"It is our assessment that North Korea has not altered its strategic goal of simultaneously securing the status of a nuclear state and the stability of its regime through the normalisation of North-US relations," General Lee Sang-Eui, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a forum.

US President Barack Obama's envoy Stephen Bosworth flew to Pyongyang last week to try to persuade the communist state to return to stalled six-party nuclear disarmament talks.

Under a 2005 six-party joint statement, the North agreed to scrap all its nuclear programmes and weaponry in return for aid, non-aggression guarantees, diplomatic benefits and talks on a treaty formally ending the 1950-53 war.

The war ended only in an armistice.

Bosworth said Friday that the United States and North Korea have a "common understanding" on the need to implement the 2005 statement and resume the six-nation talks.

But he said it was unclear when the North would return to the forum which it quit in April, a month before staging its second nuclear test.

Bosworth said the other five negotiating partners -- the United States, China, South Korea, Russia and Japan -- would hold further talks on a possible return date.

The United States refuses to recognise the North as a nuclear power and says a peace treaty can be discussed in the context of the six-party talks.

"Through the reinforcement of its nuclear capabilities, North Korea is strengthening its bargaining power against the US and pursuing direct talks," Lee said.

The North is also seeking to improve its relations with South Korea, he said, after more than a year of bitter hostility.

"It is our projection that Kim (North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il) will continue to tighten his control (over the country), and pursue improved ties with the US as well as a softening of sanctions for economic gains," Lee said.

South Korea's chief nuclear envoy Wi Sung-Lac will visit Moscow from Wednesday to Saturday to discuss next steps, the foreign ministry said. He will meet his counterpart Alexei Borodavkin on Thursday.

earlier related report
Arms seizure shows pressure on N.Korea: S.Korea analysts
Seoul (AFP) Dec 14, 2009 - Thailand's seizure of a North Korean arms shipment after an apparent US tip-off will embarrass Pyongyang but won't derail its newly restarted dialogue with Washington, analysts said Monday.

Four Kazakhs and a Belarussian detained after flying into Bangkok on a cargo plane carrying 30 tonnes of sanctions-busting weapons appeared in court Monday and were detained for 12 days.

The cache, including missiles and rocket-propelled grenades, was found after the plane landed for refuelling on Friday. Thai media said authorities moved after receiving intelligence from the United States.

The plane began its journey in Pyongyang and Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the weapons came from a North Korean company. Its destination was unclear.

Thai officials said they were enforcing United Nations Resolution 1874 passed in June following North Korean missile and nuclear tests. It was the first known airborne arms cargo from Pyongyang to have been seized since the resolution banned all its weapons exports.

The seizure came one day after US envoy Stephen Bosworth returned from talks in Pyongyang aimed at restarting stalled six-party nuclear disarmament talks.

"Arms Deals Highlight N.Korea's Duplicity," the conservative Chosun Ilbo newspaper headlined its editorial. The North refuses to recognise the UN resolution.

Seoul analysts said the North is unlikely to overreact at a time when it seeks direct talks with the United States. Bosworth's trip was its first official contact with the Obama administration.

"The seizure of North Korean weapons in Thailand will not seriously hurt the mood for dialogue," Dongguk University professor Koh Yu-Hwan told AFP.

"Of course it reflects the US government's determination to dismantle North Korea's nuclear programme. The US will continue its policy of using pressure and dialogue.

"North Korea will be under further pressure to make a quick decision and resume six-party talks," Koh said.

"For North Korea, this is embarrassing. But it is not expected to abandon bilateral talks with the US."

Cheon Seong-Whun of the state-run Korea Institute for National Unification, also said the seizure may help prompt the North back to the six-way talks, according to Yonhap news agency.

A Seoul government official told Dong-A Ilbo newspaper that Pyongyang spends most of its earnings from arms exports on developing weapons of mass destruction -- one reason why conventional weapons were included in the latest sanctions resolution.

The US State Department says the North is thought to earn hundreds of millions of dollars from the sale of missiles and other illicit activities.

"Having difficulty earning foreign currency due to continued international sanctions, North Korea seems to be diversifying its means of transporting weaponry," the unidentified official quoted by Dong-A Ilbo said in relation to the aircraft.

In the summer the US navy shadowed a North Korean freighter suspected of carrying banned cargo and believed bound for Myanmar. The ship turned back in July.

In August weapons including rocket-propelled grenades were found on a ship seized by the United Arab Emirates while travelling from North Korea to Iran.

"This case sends a clear message to North Korea that the international community, including the other five nations in the six-party talks, is adopting a two-track approach -- dialogue for dialogue and pressure for pressure," the official added.

The talks group the two Koreas, Japan, China, the United States and Russia. The North quit them in April and staged its second nuclear weapons test in May.

The Korea Herald also noted the weapons seizure came on the heels of Bosworth's talks. "The incident... exposed North Korea's duplicity," its editorial said.

"Perhaps the seizure of the arms cargo will drive home the message to the leadership in Pyongyang that it really does not have much choice but to return to the aid-for-denuclearisation talks."

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