Thread: North Korea Doesn't Feel Like Talking

N. Korea not ready for talks, hopes for year-end meeting dashed
By Naoko Aoki
BEIJING, Dec. 4, Kyodo

North Korea said Saturday it will not return to the six-way talks on its nuclear programs until reelected U.S. President George W. Bush forms policies for his second term, dashing hopes for holding another round by the end of the year.

''As the second Bush administration has not yet emerged, we would like to wait a bit longer to follow with patience what policy it will shape,'' an unnamed North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by the official Korean Central News Agency.

''We are not impatient as regards the issue of the resumption of the talks nor would we like to make a hasty final conclusion,'' the official was also quoted as saying.

The comments followed remarks by a U.S. State Department spokesman earlier in the week that the United States wants to resume the talks, possibly in December or in January.

North Korea reached the conclusion after recent discussions with Chinese and U.S. officials, according to KCNA.

The discussions included talks between North Korean officials and Ning Fukui, China's special ambassador for North Korean nuclear issues, who visited the country last week.

KCNA said that North Korean and U.S. officials also had contact in New York on Tuesday and Friday.

The six countries involved in the talks have not made a major breakthrough on the North Korean nuclear standoff in the first three rounds of talks.

The talks have stalled since North Korea refused to attend the fourth round, scheduled to happen by the end of September, citing what it calls a hostile U.S. policy toward it.

In Saturday's comment, North Korea repeated its demand that the United States drop its ''hostile'' policy.

''There should be necessary conditions and environment for the resumption of the talks,'' the spokesman was quoted as saying. ''What is essential for this is for the U.S. to drop its hostile policy aimed at bringing down the system in the DPRK.'' And what a horrible thing that would be DPRK is the acronym for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.

''Our analysis of the results of the contact in New York prompts us to judge that the U.S. side showed no willingness to change its policy toward us and intends to use the six-party talks as a leverage for forcing us to dismantle all our nuclear programs including the nuclear development for a peaceful purpose first,'' KCNA said.

Bush begins his second term Jan. 20, and analysts and diplomats have said North Korea probably wants to watch developments following the reelection of Bush.

That includes the shuffling of Cabinet posts such as the nomination of National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state, as well as personnel changes in the State Department.

The six-way talks involve China, Japan, the two Koreas, Russia and the United States.

The nuclear crisis began in October 2002, when U.S. officials said North Korea had admitted to working on a secret program to enrich uranium for weapons.

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