Asia-Pacific

Six-party talks may resume around Lunar New Year

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-01-22 21:31

SEOUL: The stalled multilateral talks over denuclearization of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) might resume around the Lunar New Year, and the current standoff is not helping the DPRK, South Korea's top diplomat said Friday.

"I'm expecting the six-party talks will be held around the Lunar New Year," Seoul's Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan told reporters in a briefing, adding to recent remarks by high-ranking officials that talks on the DPRK's denuclearization involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia might resume soon.

There is a consensus among the six-party nations, except the DPRK, that they should not overlook the stalled talks anymore, Yu said, calling his renewed urge for the talks "diplomatic pressure. "

"(The current stalemate) is not necessarily helping North Korea (DPRK), since the international community is imposing strong sanctions on the country based on the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1874," Yu said, responding to concerns that the stalled denuclearization process might be giving the DPRK more time to develop nuclear weapons.

The resolution, adopted in June 2009 in the wake of the DPRK's underground nuclear test and aimed at imposing further economic and commercial sanctions and encouraging search of the country's cargo, states progress in the denuclearization as a condition for considering lifting or easing of sanctions.

"The DPRK might be aware of the different nature of the sanctions, as it's not like sanction imposed by the United States only," Yu said.

The DPRK's unconditional return to the six-party negotiations and actual progress in the denuclearization process are what he considers important at this point, he added.

South Korea, while maintaining its stance of seeking sanctions and dialogues at the same time, is in cooperation with other countries concerned on the issue, Yu said, adding the Chinese government, host of the six-way discussions, is also putting efforts into finding a breakthrough in the current impasse.

The remarks by the top diplomat is a reiteration of South Korea 's position on the DPRK's recent proposal to have discussion on reaching a peace treaty to replace a truce that ended the 1950- 1953 Korean War, which left the two Koreas technically at war, and its refusal to resume six-party talks over its denuclearization unless sanctions are lifted.