New York: North Korea's UN Ambassador has
said his government was not opposed to negotiations with the
United States on issues of common concern.
"We are not against a dialogue. We are not against any
negotiations on issues of common concern," Ambassador Sin Son
Ho told reporters at the North Korean mission in New York.
He said Pyongyang was not to blame for the absence of
dialogue with Washington. "It is not because of us. We are
ready anytime."
And he reaffirmed that his government would not return to
the six-party talks on a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.
"We have already made our position very clear. The
six-party talks are gone forever. We will never participate in
the six-party talks, never again," the North Korean envoy
said, referring to long-running negotiations involving the
two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan.
He said that Pyongyang broke off the talks because the
other parties to the talks had not implemented what they had
promised.
"They did not implement what they have agreed, what they
have promised... So we will not trust them any longer.
Whatever agreement, whatever promise they give us, they always
cheat," he added.
In exchange for abandoning its nuclear program, North
Korea was promised food and energy assistance from the other
parties.
Bureau Report
First Published: Saturday, July 25, 2009, 09:47