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Three-way summit in China to focus on NKorea

SKorea sceptical on NKorea's nuclear talks offer
South Korea expressed scepticism Thursday about North Korea's conditional offer to return to nuclear disarmament talks, saying its neighbour continues to develop atomic programmes while seeking dialogue. Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan said United Nations sanctions would continue until the North takes meaningful steps to end the programmes. On Monday the North told China it was willing to return to the six-party talks it abandoned in April -- but only if it first holds direct negotiations with the United States. "North Korea shows a dual attitude, that it is expressing a willingness to have dialogue while continuing its nuclear development activities," Yu told a briefing. He said six-nation nuclear disarmament pacts reached in 2007 "have become meaningless because North Korea already conducted a nuclear test" since then.

Yu also expressed regret that the North was undoing the measures it took to disable the plants which had produced weapons-grade plutonium. But he denied a media report that Pyongyang is close to restoring the plants at Yongbyon. "What we understand is that they have not reached such a stage." The North shut down the facilities at Yongbyon in 2007 and began disabling them under a six-nation deal. But it quit the forum in April and vowed to restart the plants after the United Nations condemned its long-range rocket launch. In May, it conducted a second nuclear test, incurring tougher UN sanctions. The six-party talks group South Korea, Japan, China, the United States and Russia as well as the North.

"The five members maintain a united opinion that the implementation of UN Security Council sanctions Resolution 1874 should not be stopped, put on hold or modified even if North Korea simply returns to the six-party talks," Yu said. "The sanctions... aim to bring North Korea back to talks and urge North Korea to take irreversible steps towards denuclearisation in a sincere manner." The United States has reiterated its readiness for direct talks with the North but only to secure the reclusive country's return to the six-party forum. "The US is very concerned that its bilateral meeting with North Korea might be seen as replacing the six-party talks," Yu said. The minister said the nuclear issue would be a key topic at a summit between South Korean and Japanese leaders in Seoul on Friday, and at a trilateral summit also including China in Beijing on Saturday.

by Staff Writers
 Beijing (AFP) Oct 8, 2009
 The leaders of China, Japan and South Korea meet in Beijing on Saturday for a summit expected to focus on drawing North Korea back to the negotiating table over its nuclear weapons programme.

The three-way gathering, the first since an inaugural meeting last December, also marks new Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's debut on the regional stage, with Tokyo's often distrustful neighbours seeking clues on his policies.

North Korea will however likely seize the spotlight, with the meeting of Hatoyama, South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao the first chance for a collective response to Pyongyang's latest statements.

The North said Monday during a visit by Wen that it was willing to return to six-nation nuclear disarmament talks it abandoned in April -- but only if it first was granted direct negotiations with the United States.

Washington has said it would agree to bilateral talks within the six-party framework, but said that the goal must be a complete end to Pyongyang's nuclear weapons drive.

Yun Duk-Min, a professor at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security in Seoul, said observers will be looking for the three nations to send a "strong and united message" on the need to return to the six-nation forum.

The negotiations on ending Pyongyang's nuclear programmes are hosted by North Korea's close ally China and also include the two Koreas, the United States, Russia and Japan.

"When you handle North Korea, which is good at playing tricks, it is important for the other five nations to stay united with a firm commitment to the six-party process," said Yun.

Officials in Seoul also said Lee wanted to present what he describes as a "grand bargain" for North Korea's nuclear disarmament. South Korea has yet to elaborate on the plan.

The six-party talks had previously reached a deal under which North Korea agreed to dismantle its nuclear facilities and materials in return for a package of security guarantees and energy assistance.

Japanese foreign ministry officials said that Hatoyama -- whose Democratic Party of Japan ended more than half a century of almost unbroken rule by the conservative Liberal Democrats -- would seek to build trust with Lee and Wen.

Hatoyama will meet Lee in South Korea ahead of the Beijing summit, in an apparent sign of this new push.

Tokyo's relations with its Asian neighbours were marked by distrust and frequent animosity under the Liberal Democrats, amid perceptions Japan had failed to fully own up to its wartime aggression in the region.

"The Chinese leadership and the Korean presidency will want to have a good talk with him, to try to get an idea of what the new Japanese government is going to do," said Brian Bridges, head of political science at Hong Kong's Lingnan University.

The three leaders are also expected to touch on the general state of the global economy and on how to deal with the financial crisis.

China, South Korea, and Japan together accounted for 16 percent of global GDP last year, make up about three-quarters of Asian economic activity and have increasingly intertwined economies.

"(South) Korea will be the host of the G20 summit (next year), so China and a newly engaged Japan will be important players in that and Lee will want to get a sense of what they might want to get out of it," Bridges said.

A Japanese foreign ministry official said Hatoyama was also expected to explain his vision for an East Asian community -- a European Union-style economic and political alliance of Asian nations.

Climate change could also be on the summit's agenda ahead of international talks in Copenhagen in December aimed at agreeing a follow-up treaty to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

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NUKEWARS
NKorea may not be serious about giving up nukes: analysts
 Seoul (AFP) Oct 6, 2009
 North Korea wants to placate key benefactor China by offering to return to disarmament talks and it is unclear whether it really intends to give up its cherished nuclear deterrent, analysts said Tuesday. Leader Kim Jong-Il told visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao late Monday the North is willing to return to six-nation nuclear disarmament negotiations -- on condition it first holds talks ... read more






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