Lee Soo-hyuck, head of the Republic of Korea (ROK) delegation to the third round of six-party talks, said in Beijing Wednesday evening that the ROK delegation had proposed detailed plans on resolving the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue. Speaking at the press conference, Lee, ROK deputy minister of foreign affairs and trade, said that the ROK delegation had proposed detailed plans and corresponding measures on the abandonment of the nuclear programs.  

He said the abandonment should meet two conditions: Firstly, the DPRK should, under international supervision, completely abolish all the nuclear programs, including the uranium enrichment program.

Secondly, he said, as the first step of abandoning the nuclear programs, the DPRK should freeze all its nuclear programs by fixed time, seal up relevant materials and freeze relevant facilities under international supervision.

Lee said if the DPRK froze the nuclear programs, the ROK would propose the following three measures in return:

First, the ROK will provide the DPRK with heavy fuel oil. Second, the United States would provide a guarantee in written form on ensuring the DPRK's security, including removing hostility against the DPRK and making a non-aggression promise. And thirdly, the United States would hold consultations with the DPRK on removing it from the black list of countries supporting terrorism and slowing down sanctions toward the DPRK.

Lee said the ROK hoped all parties could coordinate with each other and reach an understanding to create an environment for resolving the nuclear issue.

Heads of the delegations all delivered keynote speeches on Wednesday afternoon. Lee said that however, due to time limit, only the delegations of the DPRK, the United States and the ROK expounded on their respective stances afterwards. The conference progressed in a sincere and pragmatic atmosphere.

He said there were no differences between the US and ROK on the major orientations and principles on resolving the nuclear issue, and the two parties had kept a close and coordinated relationship. Lee said he held talks respectively with DPRK delegation head Kim Kye-gwan and Russian delegation head Alexander Alexeyev on Wednesday morning, and the delegation heads from the ROK, the United States and Japan had a three-party consultation on Wednesday afternoon prior to the opening ceremony of the talks.

(Xinhua News Agency June 24, 2004)