S. Korea, US at Odds Over NK Issues

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200609/kt2006091917242411990.htm



S. Korea, US at Odds Over[각주](~로) 다투다. 반목하고 있다.[/각주] NK Issues





By Ryu Jin

Staff Reporter

South Korea and the United States still remain at odds over their approaches toward North Korea despite an agreement on a ``common and broad approach’’ for the restart of the six-party talks made at a Seoul-Washington summit last Thursday, according to South Korean and U.S. officials Tuesday.

Seoul wants the United States to put more weight on diplomacy[각주]외교(술)[/각주] than sanctions[각주]제재[/각주] for reviving the talks on Pyongyang’s nuclear programs but Washington seems determined to go ahead with its efforts to put pressure on the Stalinist[각주]공산주의[/각주] North, they said.

The top South Korean diplomat[각주]외교관[/각주] in the United States said Seoul has called on Washington to refrain[각주]삼가하다[/각주] from additional sanctions that could pour cold water on efforts to bring North Korea back to the negotiation table, reports said.

``We have asked Washington to delay additional sanctions as we expected they could make the resumption[각주]재개[/각주] of the six-party talks more difficult,’’ Ambassador[각주]대사[/각주] to the United States Lee Tae-sik was quoted as telling a press meeting in Washington Monday.

He added that it would be improper[각주]적절하지 않은[/각주] for the United States to restore the sanctions that it lifted in 1994 and 2000 during the Clinton administration. ``I think the chances are 50 to 50 at the moment.’’

Lee also said that President Roh Moo-hyun asked the United States to conclude its investigation on North Korea’s illegal financial activities as quickly as possible when he met Treasury Secretary[각주]재무 장관[/각주] Henry Paulson ahead of his meeting with President George W. Bush, the reports said.

Last year, the United States blacklisted Banco Delta Asia (BDA), based in Macau, and several North Korean companies that it claimed were involved in illicit[각주]불법[/각주] activities such as counterfeiting[각주]가짜[/각주] and money laundering[각주]돈 세척[/각주].

Washington, however, does not seem to pay attention to Seoul’s request as it moves to put further sanctions on North Korea to place more pressure on Pyongyang.

A U.S. official said that the United States considering measures to implement from the recent U.N. Security Council[각주]의회[/각주] resolution[각주]결의문[/각주] which condemned[각주]비난하다[/각주] North Korea’s missile tests in early July, reports said.

``One of the measures is to restore economic sanctions the country partially lifted in 1994 and 2000,’’ the official was quoted as saying in a separate meeting with South Korean journalists in Washington.

On the ongoing[각주]진행중인[/각주] probe[각주]엄밀한 조사[/각주] into the BDA and other alleged[각주]의심스러운[/각주] financial wrongdoings[각주]범죄[/각주] by the North, he said that he did not know when it will be brought to a conclusion because there are still things to be looked into.

Lee’s remarks[각주]소견[/각주], in the meantime[각주]한편[/각주], exposed a confusion in South Korea’s diplomacy as some of his statements differed with the official position of the presidential office in Seoul.

Right after the Roh-Bush summit, officials said the two heads of state did not even mention any sanctions on North Korea, contradicting[각주]부정하는[/각주] remarks the South Korean ambassador made during the press meeting.

In a press briefing in Seoul, Chong Wa Dae spokesman Yoon Tai-young flatly denied Lee’s remarks that Roh asked Paulson to make efforts to end the U.S. investigation quickly. ``There were no such words in the meeting.’’

Tuesday marked the first anniversary of the Sept. 19, 2005 joint statement, in which the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia reached a ``rewards-for-denuclearization’’[각주]비핵화 보상[/각주] agreement for Pyongyang in principle.

But Pyongyang has so far boycotted further talks, citing the U.S. financial sanctions. Chief negotiators from Seoul, Washington and Tokyo are set to meet in New York as early as next week to discuss a joint strategy to resume the six-way talks, according to South Korean officials.