Official Says North Korea Won't Give Up Nuclear Weapons

NUKEWARS

North Korean nuclear facility, Yongbyon. Photo courtesy of AFP.

by Staff Writers
Seoul (AFP) Nov 22, 2006
North Korea will not give up its nuclear weapons even though it has agreed to return to six-nation talks on scrapping its atomic programme, a senior North Korean diplomat was quoted Wednesday as saying. "The (six-party) talks will begin soon ... how can we abandon our nuclear weapons? Do you mean that we conducted a nuclear test to give them up?" First Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok-Ju was quoted by South Korea's Yonhap news agency as saying.

It said Kang was speaking to reporters at Beijing international airport while passing through the Chinese capital from Russia. It was not clear from the quoted comments whether he was ruling out giving up nuclear weapons whatever the outcome of the talks.

Kang also said the US should lift its financial sanctions against the North.

The communist state staged its first nuclear test on October 9, sparking international condemnation and United Nations sanctions

In a surprise move it agreed on October 31 to end a year-long boycott and return to the talks grouping it with South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.

No date has been set for the next round but it is expected to be held next month.

At the talks in September last year, the country agreed to abandon its nuclear programme in exchange for security guarantees and economic aid. But it boycotted the talks two months later in response to US financial curbs over its alleged counterfeiting and money-laundering.

The North said it had agreed to return to the talks on condition the issue of the financial restrictions was discussed and settled.

Kang was also quoted as saying he had no plans to meet Chinese officials and would fly home later in the day.

Source: Agence France-Presse

NUKEWARS

Britain To Unveil Plans To Replace Nuclear Missile System

London (AFP) Nov 22, 2006
Britain is to publish proposals by the end of the year on how to replace its ageing nuclear deterrent Trident missiles, Prime Minister Tony Blair told lawmakers Monday. Blair confirmed a question from the leader of the smaller opposition Liberal Democrats Menzies Campbell that the government's position on whether to maintain the Trident missile system would be set out by the turn of the year. He also said he was "sure" lawmakers would get a chance to vote on the issue.

SUPERPOWERS Fighting An Asymmetrical Chinese War Machine Russia Prioritizes Strategic Forces On Security Agenda Timetable For Climate Talks Implies US Could Be Out Of Kyoto Fold For Years US Commander Meets Chinese Officials Ahead Of Military Drill	NUKEWARS White House Says Iran Assessment Report Inaccurate Britain To Unveil Plans To Replace Nuclear Missile System Official Says North Korea Won't Give Up Nuclear Weapons Macau Authority Denies North Korea-Linked Bank Accounts Unfrozen
MISSILE NEWS Northrop Grumman Expands Radar Role In Missile Testing Pakistan Fires Nuclear-Capable Missile Lean Principles Contribute To Missile Success LM Compact Kinetic Energy Missile Flight Test Against Armor Target	MISSILE DEFENSE Bush And Abe OK Faster BMD Cooperation US, Japan Boost BMD Cooperation USAF And Lockheed Martin Completes On-Orbit Checkout Of First SBIRS HEO Payload The Democrat Approach To BMD
AEROSPACE Aviation Industry Alarmed At New EU Emission Rules Technologies Evaluated For The Future National Airspace System Silent Aircraft Readies For Take-Off Global Aviation Industry Gathers For Key Chinese Air Show	UAV NEWS SkyLite B In Australia And New Zealand EDO Wins Contract To Support Unmanned Aircraft Boeing ScanEagle Achieves Major Flight Milestones World's Operators Of The Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye Gather For Annual Conference
IRAQ WARS Damascus And Baghdad, Again, Come Together Iraq Civilian Slaughter Grows Three Myths And One More In Iraq And Beyond Worse Than Tet	MILTECH Boeing Awarded $296 Million JDAM Contract The Mechanics Of Better Bullet Proofing Israel Developing Bionic Arsenal Air Force Declassifies Elite Aggressor Program

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights 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