Reports

Authoritative, credible and fact-based reports on defense and aerospace affairs

Daily Alerts

Latest defense and aerospace alerts from India and other major regions delivered daily to your inbox

Focus

In-depth coverage with filtering of relevant and focused subject reports

Business Networking

Connect and expand your reach with aerospace and defense industry specific business networking

Database

Search database containing thousands of reports using proprietary relevance search

Opportunities

Post and browse aerospace and defense business and career opportunities

Free subscription Join! Twitter @IndiaDefense

North Korea to resume nuclear talks in early November

2005-10-24 North Korea said on Monday it would attend a new round of six-party talks over its nuclear weapons programs in early November as agreed but questioned whether Washington was prepared to stick to a deal reached last month.

North Korea has agreed to dismantle its nuclear programs under the agreement reached with South Korea, the United States, Japan, Russia and China in return for aid and better ties with Washington and Tokyo.

"It is our consistent and invariable stand to realize the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula through dialogue," the spokesman told the North's KCNA news agency.

"We will, therefore, go to the 5th six-party talks at the date to be agreed upon early in November as the six parties had committed themselves to do so."

But he questioned whether the United States held a similar commitment, saying recent behavior by Washington cast doubt on the spirit of the agreement, the spokesman said.

"(The U.S.) is staging a noisy campaign to pressurize the DPRK, bringing utterly groundless charges such as human rights issue and illegal deal against it."

DPRK is short for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"We will hold the U.S. accountable for this situation much more deplorable than what was before the publication of the statement and keep tabs on this at the forthcoming talks," the North's spokesman said.

The North's pledge to resume negotiations confirmed New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson's observation on Saturday upon his return from meetings with senior North Koreans in Pyongyang that their commitment to the talks appeared genuine.

In Seoul, South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said his government had given Washington its ideas for a road map to take last month's nuclear deal from a joint statement to reality.

Ban told guests at a lunch to mark the 60th anniversary of the United Nations it was important for all parties in the talks on North Korea's nuclear programs to keep up the momentum and build confidence.

"During the last consultations in Washington DC, we presented our concept of a road map for the implementation of the Joint Statement," Ban said. "The United States also provided us with the status of their internal discussions on the implementation negotiations."

Further details on the concept and internal discussions were not immediately available. Ban said last week that Seoul's top priority for the new talks would be to receive an inventory of nuclear programs from the North.

The six-way talks have significance far beyond geopolitics and non-proliferation efforts.

Fitch Ratings upgraded South Korea's long-term foreign currency rating by one notch on Monday, citing lower security risks on the peninsula after North Korea agreed in principle to scrap its weapons programs.

The rating upgrade to A-plus from A came just before South Korea was due to start global marketing of $1 billion worth of sovereign bonds in dollars and euros, although economists said any short-term boost to foreign investment would be limited.

South Korea's top policy maker on the North told parliament the talks were likely to resume in the second week of November.

"The fifth round of the six-party talks that will be held in early November, probably around the second week, will focus on the issue of specifically implementing the September 19 Joint Statement," Unification Minister Chung Dong-young was quoted as saying by South Korea's Yonhap news agency.