South Korea will soon contact the North and the United States to ensure progress can be achieved when six-way talks on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program resume in the near future, Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon said. South Korea is concerned about a new wave of tension arising between North Korea and the United States over allegations that the communist state produced fake U.S. currency.“What we should do now is to prevent relations between Washington and Pyongyang from worsening," Song said upon arrival at Incheon International Airport Saturday after a two-day visit to Beijing. Song, who serves as South Korea's chief envoy to the sixnation talks, said he also planned to contact other members of the six-party talks to “fine-tune the agenda and date" for the next talks. In Beijing, Song met Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei but declined to discuss any details. He said North Korea and the United States should meet in whatever format was useful to resolve the dispute.
Tension flared anew this past week after Pyongyang condemned Washington over U.S. financial sanctions against firms suspected of counterfeiting and money-laundering on behalf of North Korea. On Friday, the communist state accused the United States of breaking its promise - allegedly made at the latest round of six-nation nuclear talks in Beijing - to hold "negotiations" on the sanctions issue by offering to give only a "briefing." The North warned the issue can affect the nuclear talks.
Washington has rejected the claim, saying it has "never offered to engage in negotiations with North Korea." The lead U.S. nuclear negotiator, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, said in an interview with the Associated Press that Washington imposed the sanctions as part of its legitimate right to defend its currency and it is "not prepared to negotiate that."
The nuclear talks, launched in 2003, involve China, the United States, the two Koreas, Japan and Russia. Their fifth and latest session took a recess in November with no signs of progress on how the North would disarm and what it would get in return.
At the fourth session in September, the communist state agreed to abandon its nuclear programs in exchange for aid and security assurances, but it quickly backpedaled that pledge by demanding it be provided with a civilian nuclear reactor before disarming. Now, the North is demanding that the United States drop economic sanctions imposed because of alleged counterfeiting and money laundering on behalf of North Korea.
North Korea has urged the United States to lift financial sanctions against the communist state, saying such a move is a prerequisite to progress in sixparty talks to end its nuclear weapons drive. A Foreign Ministry spokesman, quoted early Saturday by Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency, warned the country would take "all corresponding self-defense measures" should Washington fail to comply.