N. Korea irate at U.S. plan

BEIJING – North Korea’s envoy to nuclear disarmament talks in Beijing said Tuesday that the United States should change its policy on prohibiting Pyongyang from having a nuclear power plant.

Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan made the remarks upon his return to North Korea after talks in Beijing failed to produce a statement of principles to guide future negotiations aimed at persuading Pyongyang to renounce nuclear weapons.

“The crux of resolving the nuclear issue is the differences between the policies of (the North) and the U.S.,” Kim was quoted as saying by China’s official Xinhua News Agency. “The U.S. hasn’t decided to accept (the North’s) peaceful nuclear program.” He added: “If the U.S. really wants to make substantial progress in the Korean peninsula’s nuclear issue, it had better make up its mind to change its policy.”

The discussions, which ended Sunday, were scheduled to resume the week of Aug. 29. The West is approaching the talks with Pyongyang differently from negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, asking Tehran to merely limit its activities in exchange for economic incentives, while insisting that North Korea drop even its civilian nuclear power program.

Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Christopher Hill said the other five parties all rejected the North’s demand for the nuclear power plant, which was promised to Pyongyang in a 1994 deal as part of a U.S. aid package. Hill said it was “simply not on the table.”