USA: US SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL IS ENCOURAGED BY NORTH LKOREAN OFFER FOR TALKS ON NUCLEAR POWER ISSUE

Record ID: 222909

  • Title: USA: US SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL IS ENCOURAGED BY NORTH LKOREAN OFFER FOR TALKS ON NUCLEAR POWER ISSUE
  • Date: 6th January 2004
  • Summary: (U6) WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (JANUARY 06, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. SLV U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL AND TUNISIAN FOREIGN MINISTER HABIB BEN YAHIA EMERGING FROM THE STATE DEPARTMENT BUILDING FOLLOWING THEIR MEETING 0.12 2. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL SAYING: "I'm convinced that all of the six parties want to get back to the table. Because we're not sitting at the table does not mean we have not been talking to each other and a lot of papers have gone back and forth. And we are in touch with our four partners in this effort, and some of our partners are directly in touch with North Korea. So we've been doing a lot. And I hope that the next six-party talks, when they occur, will take us a step beyond where we have been with the trilateral and the first six-party talks.To your specific question about what the North Koreans said, it was an interesting statement, it was a positive statement. They, in effect, said they won't test, and they implied that they would give up all aspects of their nuclear program, not just weapons program. And this is an interesting step on their part, positive step, and we hope that it will allow us to move more rapidly toward six-party framework talks. And what we're looking at is what should be the outcome of those talks so that it is not just a discussion, but we see real progress at the end of those talks. And I'm encouraged, I'm encouraged by the statement the North Koreans made." 1.23 3. WIDE OF POWELL SPEAKING WITH REPORTERS 1.27 4. SLV POWELL AND TUNISIAN FOREIGN MINISTER HABIB BEN YAHIA SHAKE HANDS AND LEAVE 1.36 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 21st January 2004 12:00
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  • Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVA3TUVAX4HCQ73VPRHIDQFV8VWL
  • Story Text: U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell encouraged by
    North Korean statement on its nuclear weapons programme.




    U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said on
    Tuesday (January 6) a North Korean offer to suspend its
    nuclear power program was a positive step that might help
    lead to new six-party talks on ending its nuclear weapons
    programs.

    "It was an interesting statement. It was a positive
    statement. They in effect said they won't test and they
    implied that they would give up all aspects of their
    nuclear program, not just (their) weapons program," Powell
    told reporters.

    North Korea described its offer as a "bold concession"
    to restart the six-way talks, which are designed to find a
    way to persuade the secretive, communist nation to abandon
    its quest for nuclear weapons.

    Pyongyang made the offer as a private U.S. delegation
    that included congressional aides, former U.S. officials
    and an Asia scholar flew to North Korea hoping to visit the
    Yongbyon nuclear complex at the heart of the country's
    nuclear program.

    The United States has sought to persuade North Korea to
    undertake a complete, verifiable and irreversible end to
    its suspected nuclear weapons program through six-way talks
    that include U.S., Chinese, North and South Korean,
    Japanese and Russian officials.

    With prospects for a fresh round of talks in January
    appearing to recede, North Korea called on the United
    States to accept an offer to freeze its nuclear arms
    program, saying Pyongyang would throw in the "bold
    concession" of suspending nuclear power generation.

    "I'm encouraged by the statement the North Koreans
    made," Powell said. "We hope that it will allow us to move
    more rapidly toward six-party framework talks."
    Powell said he believed all six nations want to get
    back to the negotiating table and he said that "a lot of
    papers have gone back and forth" among them in recent weeks.


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