Roh Moo-hyun, president of the Republic of Korea (ROK),
expressed his hope Friday the ongoing six-party talks would reach a
peaceful solution to the nuclear issue on the Korean
Peninsula.?
"Our best efforts have been made to help find a peaceful
solution to the DPRK nuclear issue, and most problems have either
been overcome or are moving toward solutions," Roh said at an
international conference at a Seoul hotel.
"Still, some problems remain, but solutions are taking shape,
and hope is in sight," Roh was quoted by Yonhap News Agency.
Roh's remarks came amid the third day of the second round
six-way nuclear talks, which is being held in Beijing from
Wednesday.
In the second day of the multilateral nuclear talks, the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) put forward a proposal
to completely stop nuclear program, according to Liu Jianchao,
deputy director-general of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Information
Department.
However, in a statement of the DPRK delegation to the nuclear
talks Thursday night, the DPRK condemned the United States for its
hard-line stance that Pyongyang should first abandon its nuclear
programs before getting any compensations.
Pyongyang's position calls for a simultaneous swap of a freeze
of its nuclear activities for a security guarantee and energy aid
from the United States, as well as for the removal of the DPRK from
the US list of states sponsoring terrorism.
An official of the ROK Presidential Office was also quoted by
Yonhap as saying on Friday that "It is a huge leap for the DPRK and
the United States to have put their complete agendas on the table,"
noting the two sides have maintained hard-line stance toward each
other.
(Xinhua News Agency February 27, 2004)