- Title: MALAYSIA: US AND NORTH KOREA MEET FOR TALKS TO REVIVE NUCLEAR ACCORD
- Date: 20th May 1995
- Summary: KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA (MAY 20, 1995) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV EXT. UNITED STATES (U.S.) EMBASSY BUILDING/ US FLAG (2 SHOTS) 0.10 2. SLV CAR ARRIVING/MEDIA/SV NORTH KOREAN VICE FOREIGN MINISTER KIM KYE-GWAN STEPS OUT OF CAR (3 SHOTS) 0.16 3. SV KIM IS MET BY U.S. DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE THOMAS HUBBARD HANDSHAKES
- Embargoed: 4th June 1995 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA
- City:
- Country: Malaysia
- Reuters ID: LVADLTB6RG5SKDL0C31OK9FYIJG
- Story Text: The United States (U.S.) and North Korea on Saturday (May 20) began talks in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur to revive an agreement aimed at preventing the North from making nuclear bombs.
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Hubbard greeted North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan at the entrance to the U.S. embassy before entering the building for negotiations.
The talks, which were scheduled to alternate between the U.S.
and North Korean embassies, were expected to last several days, the U.S. embassy's Public Affairs Counsellor Nicholas Mele said.
Neither side was likely to make a statement during the talks unless there was a breakthrough, he added.
Under an accord signed last October, the United States promised North Korea more than 4 billion U.S. dollars in new nuclear technology and interim fuel oil supplies if Pyongyang would freeze its suspected nuclear weapons programme.
But technical talks to implement the accord broke down last month (April) in Berlin after North Korea refused to accept nuclear reactors built by arch foe South Korea.
Kim, who flew to Kuala Lumpur from Beijing late on Friday, issued a statement on arrival, saying the talks are taking place "amid a grave situation with the North Korea-U.S. agreed framework at the crossroads".
"The North Korean delegation to this round of talks is interested primarily with checking up on the credibility of the United States in this regard," Kim said.
South Korean officials on Friday held out little hope for a breakthrough in the talks.
A South Korean official said Washington would not back off from its position that South Korea should supply light-water reactors to replace the North's graphite plants. The existing plants produce larger quantities of plutonium -- a key material needed for the manufacture of nuclear weapons.
The North says there are safety problems with South Korean reactors. But analysts in South Korea believe the Stalinist state is in reality concerned that the deal could give its arch-rival influence over North Korea in the future.
South Korean officials say its reactors are the logical choice because of possible future requirements for compatible power generation systems in the two divided halves of Korea.
Both Koreas, created after the peninsula was partitioned at the end of World War Two, are committed to unification.
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