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| ‘DPRK unlikely to give up N-weapons’ |
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Tuesday, November 17, 2009
SEOUL: North Korea is unlikely to give up its nuclear weapons in the foreseeable future despite the upcoming talks with Washington, a former senior US diplomat who recently visited Pyongyang said on Monday.
David Straub, once head of the State Department’s Korea desk, gave his views as Washington prepares to send an envoy to the North for discussions on reviving the stalled six-nation nuclear disarmament talks.
“I see no indication that North Korea, in the foreseeable future, is prepared to give up its nuclear weapons programmes on terms that the US will find politically acceptable,” Straub told a Seoul seminar, according to Yonhap news agency. Straub accompanied former president Bill Clinton on a trip in August to negotiate the release of two US journalists.
He said he expected no breakthrough from the upcoming visit by Stephen Bosworth, the US representative for North Korea. The United States hopes to bring the North back to the disarmament talks, which also group China, Japan, Russia and South Korea. Pyongyang quit the forum in April and staged a second nuclear test the following month. Straub said he expected Bosworth to convey a “short and simple message” that Washington was ready to strike a deal in which North Korea would drop its nuclear programmes to get political and economic incentives.
He, however, predicted that it would not accept the offer. But the Obama administration would also not consider a military option to end the North’s nuclear ambitions.
“What does this mean? It probably means a long stalemate,” Straub said. North Korea has said it is ready to return to the six-nation talks but only if there is progress in bilateral discussions with the United States.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
