North Korea's chief negotiator to the ongoing six-party
Korean Peninsula nuclear talks said yesterday that his country
should enjoy the right to the peaceful use of nuclear power.
"All countries in the world enjoy the right to use nuclear power
peacefully," said Kim Kye-gwan. "North Korea is neither a defeated
nation in a war nor a nation having committed any crimes, so why
should we not be allowed to use nuclear power peacefully?"
Kim, also vice foreign minister, was speaking outside the North
Korean Embassy in Beijing following a heads-of-delegation meeting
last night.
?
He expressed dissatisfaction with the US' opposition to North
Korea's peaceful use of nuclear power and said all other
participating nations in the talks understood his country's
position.
Kim also expressed his belief that the US would eventually be
persuaded to support a peaceful North Korean nuclear program, but
that remaining differences in their political stances have produced
a stalemate in the drafting process of a common document.
?
He said North Korea and the US are still unable to establish mutual
trust on the normalization of bilateral ties.
?
"This round of talks aims at realizing the denuclearization of the
peninsula," he said. "We will make every effort to help the talks
achieve progress, and the talks will continue."
?
The current round of six-party talks, involving China, Japan, North
Korea, Russia, South Korea and the US entered its eleventh day
today.
?
(Xinhua News Agency August 5, 2005)