S. Korean envoy travels to US, Japan on North's nuclear ambitions
S. Korean envoy travels to US, Japan on North's nuclear ambitions
Seoul envoy travels to U.S.
on North's nuke ambitions
Agence France-Presse
Seoul
A special envoy of South Korea's president-elect Roh Moo-Hyun
left for the United States on Sunday to push for a peaceful
solution to the standoff over North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
The envoy, Chyung Dai-Chul, will stay in the U.S. until
Wednesday for talks with President George W. Bush and other U.S.
officials. He will visit Japan on Thursday.
Chyung is carrying a letter from Roh calling for a peaceful
solution to the nuclear standoff, Roh's aides said. Roh is to
travel to Washington shortly after he takes office on Feb. 25.
Before his departure, the envoy told reporters he would convey
Roh's opposition to sanctions against North Korea or a military
confrontation over the nuclear standoff.
South Korea has stressed the need for time to allow diplomacy
to work to resolve the crisis. The U.S. has been pushing for it
to be referred to the United Nations Security Council, which
could impose sanctions.
North Korea regards sanctions as a declaration of war.
The standoff followed U.S. revelations in October that North
Korea had admitted to running a secret enriched uranium program
in violation of a 1994 accord under which the Stalinist country
froze nuclear activities.
The U.S. suspended fuel aid to energy-poor North Korea. In
response, Pyongyang threatened to reactivate a mothballed
plutonium-producing nuclear complex and withdrew from the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Pyongyang demands the two Cold War foes sign a non-aggression
treaty to settle the issue. Washington says Pyongyang must
dismantle its nuclear threat prior to negotiations.
U.S. officials said last week spy satellites had detected
suspicious activity at North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear complex
that could be the movement of nuclear fuel for conversion into
bomb-grade plutonium.
The New York Times reported that U.S. satellites observed
trucks moving up to a building that houses some 8,000 fuel rods
at Yongbyon.
Analysts have concluded the trucks were moving rods to a
hiding place or to a reprocessing facility, it said.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer Washington warned Pyongyang
against such a "provocative" step.
"Any such step would have the effect of further isolating
North Korea from the international community, which is united in
seeking a peaceful resolution of the current situation," he said.
Yonhap news agency said Sunday that South Korea was in the
process of confirming the report.
It quoted an unidentified government official as saying: "Even
if such trucks were spotted moving in the vicinity of nuclear
facilities in Yongbyon, it is difficult to confirm whether the
trucks were loaded with nuclear fuel rods."