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Seoul calls for toughening conditions to resume any talks with DPRK

Chinese mass media report that North Korea confirmed its commitment to settling the nuclear problem by dialogue

SEOUL, June 20 (Itar-Tass) - Head of the South Korean delegation Cho Tae-yong, who is currently in Washington, called for toughening preconditions to start any talks with the DPRK, Yonhap News Agency reported on Thursday.

Commenting on the meeting with the American and Japanese colleagues, Glyn Davies and Shinsuke Sugiyama, Cho Tae-yong said “tougher measures”, which had been coordinated between Washington and Pyongyang in February 2012, should be used towards North Korea.

Seoul says the tripartite meeting coincided with the talks between head of the North Korean delegation to the six-party talks Kim Gye-gwan and the Chinese representatives. Chinese mass media report that North Korea confirmed its commitment to settling the nuclear problem by dialogue.

If any talks start with North Korea, Pyongyang “should be imposed tougher requirements compared with the North Korean-U.S. agreement of February 29, 2012”, Cho Tae-yong told journalists.

During the talks in February 2012, Davies and Kim Gye-gwan agreed that Pyongyang would stop its nuclear activities at the Yongbyon Scientific Research Centre in exchange for 240,000 tonnes of foodstuffs supplies to the North. However, the agreements have not been realised because several weeks later North Korea launched a long-range missile.

After all provocations and heightening tension, including the third nuclear test in North Korea, Pyongyang changed its tactics and proposed to hold talks with South Korea and the United States, Yonhap writes. The North insists the beginning of the dialogue not precede any preconditions. The United States comes against this position.

The six-party talks with the participation of Russia, the U.S., Japan, two Koreas and China are being held since the end of 2008.