After talks with senior South Korean and Russian officials in Seoul, US nuclear envoy Christopher Hill warned North Korea not to conduct a second nuclear test, saying the international community will respond if North Korea does so. Regarding the inter-Korean Mt. Geumgang tourism project, he showed a negative position about that, raising a doubt because the business aims to give the North Korean government money. He said, “It is understandable that the Gaesung industrial complex project can play a role in reforming North Korea, but I can’t make sense of the Mt. Geumgang tourism project.”

He added, “One project (Gaesung) seems to be devised for long-term investment for human resources, but the other (Mt. Geumgang tourism) is for providing capital to the North Korean government. I have different viewpoints on them.”

Hill met with Chun Yung Woo, the chief South Korean delegate to the six-party talks, and Russian Vice Foreign Minister Alexander Alexeyev, who is the chief Russian delegate to the multilateral nuclear talks. After the meeting Hill revealed his viewpoints to the press, saying, “I know that the Korean government is now reconsidering this project, but I didn’t discuss it with the Korean government separately. It is up to Korea. If Korea benefits from the project, it will keep the project on.”

Regarding the Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), Mr. Hill mentioned, “PSI is a promise that international community will keep a certain principle, and the implementation is voluntary,” adding, “I have no sense why it is a major issue in the Korean press.” Referring to Hill’s comment, Chun said, “We did not talk about that today in detail, but I explained that we have prepared some measures when North Korean vessels pass the designated fairway route with weapons.”

He added, “Right now, we could not approach North Korea with the comprehensive measures agreed by President Roh and US President Bush during their summit talks. But someday, when diplomacy is restored, we have to consider it as a cornerstone for dealing with the North Korean nuclear program.” The three top nuclear envoys talked for an hour and had another close talk during a banquet.

입력시간: 2006. 10.19. 08:55