North Korea says no point in talks

From DefenseNews

N. Korea Says No Point in Nuclear Talks with U.S.

By JON HERSKOVITZ, REUTERS, SEOUL

North Korea said Jan. 17 it was unthinkable for it to return to nuclear disarmament talks that include the United States because it believes Washington wants to bring down its communist rulers with financial sanctions.

Pyongyang has already threatened to boycott the talks until the sanctions are lifted, but the fresh remark from the official KCNA news agency came as media reports suggested North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was in Beijing for discussions with Chinese leaders about the stalled six-way talks.

Talks among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States have hit a snag since the last round was held in November 2005 because of a U.S. financial crackdown.

The United States, which clamped down on companies it suspects of aiding North Korea in counterfeiting, money laundering and the drug trade, has urged Pyongyang to resume the talks without preconditions.

“As the U.S. financial sanctions are an issue directly linked with the talks, it is unthinkable for the DPRK to negotiate the nuclear issue with the party seeking to isolate and stifle it while being exposed to sanctions,” KCNA reported.

North Korea, whose official name is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), repeated its call for the United States to end the sanctions, saying they are “little short of an act of suffocating the DPRK to bring down its system.”

North Korea threatened to take tough countermeasures, but did not elaborate. Pyongyang said last week it was illogical to return to talks because of the U.S. sanctions.

The United States has said the suspected illicit activity that prompted the sanctions has helped finance North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons. Washington has also said the financial crackdown is separate from the six-party talks.

In September 2005, the United States banned American institutions from doing business with a Macau-based bank due to U.S. suspicions it helped North Korea launder money.

A month later, it blacklisted eight North Korean companies it suspects supported Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program.

Although the presence of Kim Jong-il in China has not been confirmed, many reports — including those in Hong Kong papers controlled by the mainland — say he spent recent days peering under the hood of China’s trade juggernaut in southern Guangdong province, looking for lessons and maybe deals.

The South Korean Chosun Ilbo newspaper said Kim was due to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing on Jan. 17 to discuss the stalled six-party talks.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quoted witnesses as saying 40 sedans were seen pulling into the Diaoyutai state guesthouse in Beijing.