N. Korea demands nuke reactor from U.S. (AP) Updated: 2005-09-20 18:59
"This is not the agreement that they signed, and we'll give them some time to
reflect on the agreement they signed," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack
said in New York on Monday.
The announcement Monday that North Korea would dismantle existing weapons and
stop building new ones, culminating two years of bargaining, contained no
deadlines and few details. The six parties in the talks agreed to meet again in
November, when the difficult questions of verification and timetables would be
on the table.
The North had demanded since the latest round of six-party talks began last
week in the Chinese capital that it be given a light-water reactor — a type less
easily diverted for weapons use — in exchange for disarming. U.S. officials
opposed the idea, maintaining North Korea could not be trusted with any nuclear
program.
The issue was sidestepped Monday, with participants saying they would discuss
it later — "at an appropriate time." The North, however, chose to immediately
press the issue, essentially introducing a major condition on its pledge to
disarm.
Japan swiftly joined the United States in rejecting the demand.
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