http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/010/nation/N_Korea_drops_arms_treaty+.shtml

N. Korea drops arms treaty

Insists it isn't planning to build nuclear weapons

By Christopher Torchia, Associated Press, 1/10/2003

EOUL - North Korea said today that it was withdrawing from the global nuclear arms control treaty and denounced what it called US aggression but said it had no plans to develop nuclear weapons.

Pyongyang said that leaving the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty will free it from safeguard obligations to the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency.

''We can no longer remain bound to the treaty, allowing the country's security and the dignity of our nation to be infringed upon,'' said a statement carried on KCNA, North Korea's official news agency.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2003

Answers

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The announcement heightened tension over North Korea's nuclear development, just as the country seemed to be taking steps yesterday to ease the international crisis.

In a surprise move, two North Korean diplomats flew to Santa Fe, presumably on orders from North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, to talk with Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico, a former UN ambassador who has had dealings with North Korea for years. Earlier yesterday, North Korea announced that it would restart Cabinet-level talks with South Korea later this month.

In response to the treaty withdrawal, a Seoul official said South Korea will convene an emergency session of its National Security Council today. The meeting will be chaired by Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun, the cabinet minister in charge of North-South relations, a ministry spokesman said.

There was no immediate reaction from the White House to North Korea's move.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2003

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The 1968 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty is considered a cornerstone in the effort to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. Only four countries - Cuba, India, Israel, and Pakistan - are not signatories, although Cuba is a member of a treaty establishing a nuclear-free zone in Latin America.

In 1993, North Korea also announced that it was withdrawing from the nonproliferation treaty, which it had signed in 1985. But it later suspended the decision and entered talks with the United States.

The withdrawal from the treaty could signal that North Korea plans to push ahead with its nuclear weapons programs or that it is trying to pressure the United States into concessions.

North Korea has repeatedly accused the United States of plotting to invade and has said it has the right to develop weapons for its self- defense. However, it has never publicly said that it has a nuclear weapons program.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2003

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Meanwhile, Richardson became a surprise intermediary between the United States and North Korea. The initiative for the meeting was taken by North Korea's deputy UN ambassador, Han Song Ryol, as the United States awaited a response from Pyongyang to meetings held Monday and Tuesday among US, South Korean, and Japanese officials on the North Korean nuclear situation.

In a joint statement with South Korea and Japan, the United States offered to hold talks with North Korea over its resumption of a nuclear weapons program.

After two hours of what Richardson's spokesman described as a working dinner, Richardson walked with Han and a second diplomat, Mun Jong Chol, out of the governor's mansion. Neither side commented to reporters. They were to meet again today.

North Korean diplomats require US permission to travel in the United States outside New York City, and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell granted it to facilitate the talks in Santa Fe.

Before the meeting, Richardson said: ''I support the administration's policy. I am going to try to be helpful. I am not an official negotiator. The administration has many channels that they are pursuing with the North Koreans.''

White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said the Bush administration expected Richardson to stick to President Bush's policy.

''The only message we expect is what America's position is, that we are ready to talk, and that we will not negotiate,'' Fleischer said. ''That's the US position. You should not see this as anything beyond that.''

A senior administration official, asking not to be identified, said last night that Richardson was not asked to pass any messages to the North Koreans on behalf of the administration. The official said the administration was looking for signs during the meetings of North Korean willingness to dismantle its nuclear program.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2003

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For Richardson, the role of diplomatic troubleshooter is not new.

In 1996, as a New Mexico congressman, he went to North Korea and helped to secure the release of an American who was detained for three months on spy charges. In 1994, he helped arrange the freedom of a US soldier whose helicopter had strayed into North Korea.

He also undertook diplomatic forays into Sudan, Cuba, and Iraq during his House days. He was sometimes known at the ''US ambassador to rogue states.''

He served both as UN ambassador and energy secretary for the Clinton administration. North Korea may have turned to him after recalling the warmer ties it enjoyed with Washington during that period.

Bush administration officials were careful to discourage speculation about any impending diplomatic breakthrough unless the North Koreans are prepared to abandon their nuclear weapons program.

''We were given to understand that they have something to tell us, and they want to tell it to Richardson,'' a senior State Department official said. ''He's somebody the North Koreans feel comfortable talking to.''

''It doesn't matter to us if they're talking to the Chinese, the Russians, the South Koreans or Bill Richardson,'' the official added. ''What matters to us is, do they have something to say? Are they ready to get rid of the [nuclear] programs? We don't have any details.''

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2003