By Kim Young-jin
North Korea is willing to impose a moratorium on its testing of weapons of mass destruction if stalled denuclearization talks resume, an official said, in a move likely to provide momentum to efforts to revive negotiations.
The offer came during summit talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev outside the Siberian city of Ulan Ude, a spokeswoman for the Kremlin said on the fifth day of Kim’s rare trip to the giant neighbor.
The North was ready to resume multilateral denuclearization talks “without preconditions” and “in the course of the talks ... ready to resolve the question of imposing a moratorium on tests and production of nuclear missile weapons,” Natalya Timakova said, according to reports.
Observers said the move, if confirmed, could provide a push for the stalled six-party talks to take place for the first time since 2008.
A moratorium would ease regional concerns after Pyongyang has ratcheted up tensions with long-range missile and nuclear tests, most recently in 2009 shortly after walking away from the forum, angry over international sanctions.
Seoul wants Pyongyang to halt all its nuclear activities and allow U.N. inspectors to verify the suspension before resuming the stalled talks, which halted in 2009 after the North stormed out in response to international sanctions.
Optimism could be tempered, however, by Pyongyang’s tactic of offering concessions in a bid to extract aid, then blocking progress and raising tensions with provocative acts.
Medvedev said that the reclusive Kim also offered his support for Moscow’s plan to build a pipeline through the Korean Peninsula to sell Siberian natural gas to the South, calling the talks “open” and “substantive.”
The two leaders arrived separately at the Sosnovy Bor military base where the talks were held.
Upon arriving shortly before 2 p.m., Kim thanked Medvedev for flying to the venue some 5,550 kilometers from Moscow, to which the Russian replied, “When ... talking about neighbors, our partners, distance is not a question,” AFP reported.
Some speculated Medvedev may have offered Kim a bargain involving joint projects in the energy sector for Kim’s cooperation in the denuclearization forum. Kim made a symbolic stop Sunday at a 2,000-megawatt Bureiskaya hydropower station in the Amur region, highlighting a focus on energy.
If agreed upon, the project could earn Pyongyang hundreds of millions of dollars a year in handling fees.
Any agreement over the pipeline is likely still far off, however, given that it would take extensive coordination with Moscow and Seoul.
The visit came amid a flurry of diplomacy to resume six-party talks composed of both Koreas, the United States, Japan, Russia and host China.
The 69-year-old leader arrived in Ulan Ude Tuesday and reportedly took a dip in nearby Lake Baikal, which locals believe has medicinal powers, reports quoting unnamed Russian officials said. Kim is said to have regained some of his health after reportedly suffering a stroke in 2008.