Beijing: UN special envoy Lynn Pascoe said
on Friday, after a visit to Pyongyang, that North Korea was "not
eager" to return to six-nation nuclear disarmament talks.
"They certainly are not happy with the sanctions and they
certainly were not eager -- not ruling out but not eager -- to
return to the six-party talks," Pascoe told a news conference
in Beijing.
He visited communist North Korea as intense diplomatic
efforts are made to persuade the North`s leadership to resume
nuclear talks that it broke off last April.
North Korea`s envoy to the talks, Kim Kye-Gwan, has also
been in Beijing to meet Chinese officials. China, South Korea,
Japan, Russia and the United States have been trying to
persuade the North to disarm.
After quitting the disarmament forum last April, North
Korea defiantly staged its second atomic weapons test the
following month, resulting in tougher UN sanctions.
It insists these should be lifted before talks resume,
and also wants a US commitment to hold discussions about a
permanent peace treaty between the two sides.
The 1950-53 Korean War, in which the United States led
the international force under the UN flag, has never been
officially ended.
PTI
