Seoul Denies $40-Bil. Aid Fund for Pyongyang
By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
South Korea Tuesday denied a report that it has drawn up a $40-billion aid fund in a bid to bring North Korea back to the six-party talks.
The isolated country declared a boycott of the denuclearization talks after the U.N. Security Council condemned its April 5 long-range rocket launch.
``After confirmation from our officials including nuclear negotiator Wi Sung-lac, we found that none of them made such remarks,'' an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade told The Korea Times, asking to remain anonymous.
A day earlier, a senior ministry official also said that North Korea would not likely be offered any compensation for returning to talks, in referring to the ``comprehensive package'' mentioned by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell.
``Since North Korea conducted provocative activities and went against accords (made under the six-party talks), it appears that the North may not be compensated for its return to the talks,'' the official told reporters after a meeting between Campbell and Wi here Monday.
He said the North's denuclearization may, instead, lead to the normalization of diplomatic relations between North Korea and the United States.
The Financial Times, quoting Wi and an anonymous official, reported that South Korea conceived a $40-biilion package of incentives from the international community to lure North Korea back to talks on denuclearization, putting ``hard figures on previously vague promises of aid.''
The incentives would include the aid fund with input from the Asian Development Bank, World Bank and governments, it said.
The paper continued that there would be five trade zones and `` the international community would help build railways, motorways and telecom networks and train a modern industrial workforce of 300,000.''