김계관 북한 외무성 제1부상은 18일 "우리는 전제 조건 없이 대화를 하자는 것"이라고 밝혔다.
그는 이날 중국 외교부 산하 국제문제연구소가 베이징 댜오위타이(釣魚臺) 국빈관에서 개최한 1.5트랙(반관반민) 형식의 '6자회담 10주년 기념 국제 토론회' 기조연설을 통해 "대화에 전제 조건을 다는 것은 불신을 야기하는 결과를 초래할 것"이라며 이같이 말했다.
김 부상의 이런 언급은 한국과 미국, 일본 등이 6자회담의 전제 조건으로 북한이 먼저 '2.29합의+알파(α)' 수준의 높은 비핵화 의지를 먼저 보여줘야 한다는 입장을 고수하고 있는 가운데 나온 것이다.
김 부상은 "조선반도 비핵화는 우리의 위대한 대원수님들의 유훈이고 우리 공화국의 정책적 목표"라며 "우리는 6자회담을 지지하고 있고 6자회담이든 그 틀 안에서의 보다 작은 규모의 대화이든 현실에 구애되지 않고 대화에 나갈 용의가 있다"고 강조했다.
<관련 영문 기사>
N. Korea urges resumption of six-party talks 'without preconditions'
North Korea's chief nuclear envoy called for nations involved in the long-stalled talks on the North's nuclear program to resume the multilateral process "without preconditions."
"We are ready to enter the six-party talks without preconditions," the North's First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan told a forum organized by China's foreign ministry in Beijing.
Kim said "preconditions" set by South Korea and the United States, however, "are in violation of the spirit of the Sept. 19 Joint Statement," referring to a landmark agreement reached in 2005 at the six-party talks.
Under the 2005 agreement, North Korea pledged to give up its nuclear weapons program in return for a U.S. promise not to attack or invade it and to work toward normalized ties.
The one-day forum has been arranged by China to mark the 10th anniversary of the launching of the six-party talks. The off-and-on forum that involves the two Koreas, China, the U.S., Japan and Russia has been stalled since late 2008.
Titled "Retrospects and Outlooks: A Decade of the Six-Party Talks," the meeting comes amid renewed efforts by China to revive the six-party channel, but South Korea, the U.S. and Japan have shown a cool response to it in the absence of a clear North Korean willingness to disarm. (Yonhap News)
김 부상은 "조선반도 비핵화는 우리의 위대한 대원수님들의 유훈이고 우리 공화국의 정책적 목표"라며 "우리는 6자회담을 지지하고 있고 6자회담이든 그 틀 안에서의 보다 작은 규모의 대화이든 현실에 구애되지 않고 대화에 나갈 용의가 있다"고 강조했다.
<관련 영문 기사>
N. Korea urges resumption of six-party talks 'without preconditions'
North Korea's chief nuclear envoy called for nations involved in the long-stalled talks on the North's nuclear program to resume the multilateral process "without preconditions."
"We are ready to enter the six-party talks without preconditions," the North's First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan told a forum organized by China's foreign ministry in Beijing.
Kim said "preconditions" set by South Korea and the United States, however, "are in violation of the spirit of the Sept. 19 Joint Statement," referring to a landmark agreement reached in 2005 at the six-party talks.
Under the 2005 agreement, North Korea pledged to give up its nuclear weapons program in return for a U.S. promise not to attack or invade it and to work toward normalized ties.
The one-day forum has been arranged by China to mark the 10th anniversary of the launching of the six-party talks. The off-and-on forum that involves the two Koreas, China, the U.S., Japan and Russia has been stalled since late 2008.
Titled "Retrospects and Outlooks: A Decade of the Six-Party Talks," the meeting comes amid renewed efforts by China to revive the six-party channel, but South Korea, the U.S. and Japan have shown a cool response to it in the absence of a clear North Korean willingness to disarm. (Yonhap News)