South Korea told United States officials it has no plans to launch ”large-scale” economic cooperation with North Korea before the dispute over the communist state’s nuclear weapons programme is resolved, the country’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.
Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon, who returned from a weeklong trip to Washington, said South Korea would continue to provide fertiliser and rice to the poverty-stricken state out of ”humanitarian concern” despite North Korea’s recent statement that it has nuclear weapons.
In meetings with US Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice and US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Ban also explained the importance of the construction of a joint economic zone in Kaesong in North Korea, which he said was only in the pilot stage.
”We don’t have any plans to launch large scale inter-Korean economic cooperation” as the North Korean nuclear issue is yet to be resolved, Ban told reporters.
Concerning North Korea’s recent request to provide its state with 500 000 tonnes of fertiliser, Ban said his government hasn’t yet made a decision and will evaluate ”various situations” before determining its position.
In Washington, US and South Korean officials agreed that China should play a more active role to lure North Korea back to the six-party talks aimed at halting its nuclear weapons programme, Ban said.
Ban said there had been no discussion of possible harsher measures, such as imposing sanctions against North Korea, and that the two sides agreed to focus on resolving the two-year standoff through dialogue.
North Korea announced last Thursday that it has nuclear weapons and was boycotting disarmament talks, escalating its two-year-old nuclear standoff with the United States and its allies.
Since the revelation, the United States, South Korea and China — the North’s last major ally — have renewed diplomatic efforts to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons development in return for economic benefits.
South Korea plans to send Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon to China on Thursday, and Ban plans to speak by phone with his Chinese counterpart later on Wednesday for talks aimed at restarting the disarmament negotiations.
On Tuesday, South Korean intelligence officials said that while North Korea may have made nuclear bombs as it claims, it lacks the technology to make them small enough to deliver by missile. The state intelligence service, however, said the communist state might be able to carry the bombs on aircraft, according to a report by the Yonhap news agency.
Washington and other governments say they believe the North has one or two nuclear weapons. – Sapa-AP