North Korea must send a "clear signal" to fully declare its nuclear programmes in order to get itself removed from a list of state sponsors of terrorism, the US ambassador here said Monday.
Ambassador Alexander Vershbow's demand to South Korea came as the six-party nuclear disarmament talks on North Korea were stuck in a stalemate over Pyongyang's complaint over the list. North Korea last year signed a landmark deal to abandon all its nuclear weapons in exchange for badly needed energy and economic aid and major security and diplomatic benefits.
But the disarmament process has been in a stalemate since North Korea missed an end-2007 deadline to declare all its nuclear programmes. Pyongyang has said it submitted a full list in November, but Washington insists it is still awaiting a complete declaration, including a full account of a suspected covert uranium enrichment programme.
Last week, North Korea's ruling communist party newspaper Rodong Sinmun blamed Washington for the deadlock, saying the US has yet to start removing the North from a list of state sponsors of terrorism. "We aren't able to do that until we see a clear signal from the North Koreans that they are going to do their part with regards to the declaration," Vershbow told a news conference.
"They have not yet shown us even the elements of what will constitute a complete and concrete declaration," the US ambassador to South Korea said. He said Washington wants to push forward the disarmament process talks, which group the United States, both Koreas, China, Japan and Russia.
But he said North Korea was still "in a wait-and-see mode" in making progress in the six-party talks, after South Korea's new conservative government took over last month. "It is clear that North Korea has to adjust, in fact, to much closer alignment between Washington and Seoul, as we move forward to the six-party talks," Vershbow said.
Last week, US State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said he hoped to seek a complete North Korean declaration in "the not too distant future" as US top negotiator Christopher Hill hoped six-party talks could resume this month.