Gov't urges NK to follow path of Iran for denuclearization

By Yi Whan-woo

The government urged North Korea, Tuesday, to follow the path of Iran for denuclearization on the heels of Tehran’s landmark agreement with world powers over its nuclear program.

“We also hope North Korea will resolve issues surrounding its nuclear program by engaging in a dialogue with related countries in a sincere manner,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Noh Kwang-il said in a statement. “In that regard, we ask Pyongyang to take steps toward denuclearization in accordance with Joint Statement of Sept. 19, 2005 and U.N. resolutions against its regime.”

North Korea has refused to carry out measures agreed on at six-party talks in Beijing on Sept. 19, 2005. The six members involved were the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, Russia and China.

Back then, they signed a deal in which Pyongyang promised to abandon efforts to produce nuclear weapons and admit international inspectors to its nuclear facilities.

The U.N. Security Council has adopted three major resolutions against the reclusive regime for carrying out nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2012.

Meanwhile, the foreign ministry welcomed the deal between Iran and the P5+1 in Vienna earlier on Tuesday to curb Tehran’s nuclear program in return for lifting economic sanctions progressively.

Led by the United States, the P5+1 is a collective group comprised of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany.

Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo, the point man on North Korea, assessed the Vienna agreement is likely to put pressure on the Kim Jong-un regime.

“The deal is likely to have effects on North Korea considering it now remains as the only country that is internationally isolated for threatening the world with its nuclear weapons,” Hong said during a press conference with foreign correspondents at the Press Center in downtown Seoul.

He added that the government is willing to put Pyongyang’s nuclear treaty breaches aside and engage in inter-Korean dialogue under certain conditions.

“Large-scale cooperation between the two Koreas will not be possible for the time being, given the fact that the U.N. has imposed economic sanctions against the North,” he said.

“It should be noted that Pyongyang’s denuclearization and the lifting of international sanctions on its regime should take place in advance for us to make investments accordingly.”

North Korea has been in pursuit of nuclear weapons after withdrawing from the Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1993.

In addition to its three nuclear tests, it purportedly has developed miniaturized nuclear warheads that can be mounted on ballistic missiles.