S. Korea softens stance prior to nuclear summit<\/p>\n
By Zeno Park<\/p>\n
SEOUL (AFP): South Korea, to the dismay of Washington, appears
\nto be softening its stance on the North Korean nuclear standoff
\nto help ensure the success of an unprecedented inter-Korean
\nsummit, analysts here said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Supporting that assessment, Unification Minister Lee Hong-Koo
\ntold the National Assembly that South Korea was seeking a
\n"political solution" to resolve the issue of verifying
\nPyongyang's possible diversion of plutonium for weapons.<\/p>\n
Lee's statement, made behind closed doors overnight but leaked
\nto the local press, was seen here as proof that Seoul was putting
\nthe issue of North Korea's past nuclear activity on the back
\nburner to ensure the summit goes ahead and is successful.<\/p>\n
"The (Seoul) government now seems to be in favor of a phased
\nsolution to the nuclear issue, in which the North freezes its
\ncurrent and future nuclear programs in the first stage and
\nclarifies its past at a later stage," an unidentified legislator
\ntold Joong-Ang Daily News.<\/p>\n
This policy would represent a major departure from South
\nKorea's past position that the amount of plutonium North Korea
\nhad diverted for possible weapons must be known before Washington
\nresumed high-level talks with Pyongyang.<\/p>\n
The White House has said it was ready to hold a third round of
\ntalks with North Korean on nuclear issues and bilateral relations
\nonly if it froze its nuclear program.<\/p>\n
To hold the talks, the United States also needs North Korea's
\nagreement not to desist from reprocessing spent fuel from a five-
\nmegawatt reactor and refueling the reactor, as well as keeping
\ninternational inspectors and safeguards in place, Assistant
\nSecretary of State Robert Gallucci said.<\/p>\n
Lee, who is a deputy prime minister, also said that while
\npushing for the inter-Korean summit, Seoul would not insist on
\nfirst outlining a detailed agenda, saying that past attempts at
\nsummits had invariably collapsed due to agenda differences.<\/p>\n
In the past, Seoul had demanded North Korea's nuclear
\ntransparency as a pre-condition to the meeting, while Pyongyang
\nwanted to discuss the withdrawal of the 37,000 U.S. troops
\nstationed in the South.<\/p>\n
The South's decision not to hold to the nuclear issue as a
\npre-condition to the summit was in response to North Korean
\nPresident Kim Il-Sung's proposal last week that the two leaders
\n"unconditionally meet at any place, at any time."<\/p>\n
On Monday, South Korea asked the North for talks on June 28 to
\nwork out details of the summit.<\/p>\n
The idea for the meeting was conveyed by former U.S. president
\nJimmy Carter, who brokered the meeting to help to resolve the
\ncrisis over North Korea's suspected nuclear arms development
\nprogram.<\/p>\n
Kim Il-Sung also promised Carter that he would freeze the
\nNorth's current nuclear program and allow two International
\nAtomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors to stay in the North.<\/p>\n
Analysts here said the sudden softening of South Korea's
\nposition on the nuclear issue was bound to irk Washington and
\nTokyo, which were still seeking to verify Kim Il-Sung's proposals
\nthrough diplomatic channels.<\/p>\n
"The United States has long been irritated by the lack of
\nclarity (in South Korea's policy over the nuclear issue),
\nalternating between a soft and hard line, and I think the United
\nStates is now thinking, 'here they go again on the soft line',"
\none analyst said.<\/p>\n
Reports from Tokyo said Japanese Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata
\nwas expected to call on South Korea to continue its efforts to
\nlook into North Korea's nuclear past to learn how much plutonium
\nwas diverted.<\/p>\n
Foreign ministry officials here said Japan and South Korea had
\nagreed on the necessity of a Hata-Kim Young-Sam meeting, but
\ndetails, including the date and venue, had not yet been fixed.<\/p>",
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