Seoul, Jan 07: South Korea's Foreign Minister Yoon Young-Kwan said Wednesday North Korea's offer to halt its nuclear activities was a positive move aimed at ending the nuclear crisis.
Earlier US Secretary of State Colin Powell said he was encouraged by North Korea's offer yesterday not to produce or test nuclear weapons and to freeze all nuclear operations.
"We highly value that North Koreans themselves are talking about detailed steps (they need) to take," Yoon said at a press briefing here.
"It is positive in that they reaffirm their willingness to resolve (the nuclear crisis) through dialogue," he said.
North Korea yesterday offered to refrain from testing and producing nuclear weapons in what it said was a "bold concession" to the United States.
The Stalinist state said that in return it wanted US aid and an end to US sanctions.
The statement carried by the official Korean news agency was seen here as going further than previous North Korean offers of a nuclear freeze in an effort to jumpstart a new round of six-nation talks to resolve the crisis.
Powell, speaking in Washington, said the offer could speed a resumption of the talks following an acrimonious first round in Beijing in August.
"This is an interesting step on their part, a positive step, and we hope that it will allow us to move more rapidly to six-party framework talks," Powell told reporters yesterday.
Bureau Report
