Roh's adviser gets foreign ministry's top position

Roh's adviser gets foreign ministry's top position

Agencies
Seoul

South Korea's president named his adviser on foreign affairs as
his new foreign minister on Friday, as talks on the North's
nuclear crisis hung in limbo with Pyongyang saying every delay in
restarting diplomatic negotiations gives its military more time
to build a bigger and better atomic war chest.

Ban Ki-moon will replace Yoon Young-kwan, who quit his post on
Thursday amid a rift between some foreign ministry officials and
some members of the president's National Security Council over
how to balance Seoul's relations between North Korea and its
biggest ally, the United States.

"He is expected to work through pending issues based on the
spirit of trust with our allies," the presidential Blue House
said in a statement.

Ban is a 60-year-old career diplomat with a reputation as a
moderate who understands the workings of the foreign ministry.

He was South Korea's vice foreign minister in 2000 and 2001
during former President Kim Dae-jung's administration.

While the resignation is unlikely to undermine South Korea's
close ties with Washington, it is seen as bolstering the
influence of presidential aides who preach greater independence
from the United States.

Yoon's resignation came just a day after an American who
recently visited North Korea said he was told that the communist
government sees every delay in negotiations as a chance to
strengthen its "nuclear deterrent."

Charles Pritchard, a former State Department official, met the
North Koreans last week as part of a private visit that included
a trip with American colleagues to the country's main nuclear
site at Yongbyon.

Speaking on Thursday in Washington, Pritchard said he was told
by North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan: "Lapses of
time will result in quantitative and qualitative increases in our
nuclear deterrent.

"Time is not on the U.S. side," Kim reportedly said.

Pritchard, who had visited North Korea previously, said he
found evidence of improved living conditions, including a sharp
increase in vehicular traffic increased availability of
electricity and consumer goods.

He debunked the notion among some that the country could
collapse because of economic decline.

"Don't wait," he said. "It's not going to happen."

The United States, China, Russia, Japan and the two Koreas
have been trying for months to restart another round of six-
nation talks on persuading North Korea to give up its nuclear
weapons program. A first round ended in Beijing in August without
much progress.

North Korea has insisted it needs nuclear weapons as a
deterrent against a possible U.S. attack. But it says it will
freeze its nuclear programs as a first step in talks if
Washington lifts sanctions against the North, resumes oil
shipments, and removes North Korea from the U.S. State
Department's list of countries that sponsor terrorism.

The United States has responded that North Korea must first
verifiably begin dismantling its nuclear programs before
receiving any concessions.

Separately, Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs Igor Ivanov
was in China on Friday to discuss the North Korean standoff,
according to ITAR-TASS news agency.

He said Pyongyang's offer of a freeze could "provide a good
basis for the continuation of the negotiating process," according
to the report.

The nuclear dispute flared in October 2002 when U.S. officials
accused North Korea of running a secret nuclear program in
violation of a 1994 deal requiring the North to freeze its
nuclear facilities. Washington and its allies have since cut off
free oil shipments, also part of the 1994 accord.