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S. Korea offers to lead mediation

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE Dec. 26. South Korea today staked a claim for a "leading role'' in the "peaceful resolution'' of the diplomatic-and-technical tangle that North Korea's incremental moves towards nuclearisation have caused in the Asia-Pacific region.

Unstated but implicit is South Korea's desire to influence the thinking of the United States over the question of Pyongyang's evolving profile as a producer and deployer of nuclear weapons. The move to play a "leading role'' was decided upon at an emergency security-related meeting that the outgoing President, Kim Dae-jung, conducted in Seoul today. Significantly, this refrain is in sync with a similar view that the President-elect, Roh Moo-hyun, expressed soon after his election a few days ago. Mr. Roh will assume office next February.

In the context of the U.S. President, George W. Bush's recent suggestion to Mr. Roh that representatives from the two countries should visit each other's capitals to discuss the overall Korean strategic issue, the present Government is expected to include itself in any such team from Seoul. This may ensure a certain degree of continuity in policy during the ongoing political transition in Seoul.

Annotating today's decision by South Korea, a top official expressed the hope that "the U.S. will see things (or matters concerning North Korea's nuclear arms question) in the same way'' as the Kim administration in Seoul.

He said in Seoul that the International Atomic Energy Agency had now ``confirmed'' that North Korea was pushing forward towards the resumption of nuclear power generation that could yield weapons-grade plutonium.

Pyongyang's technical experts were today reported to have started loading fuel rods into the 5-mw research reactor at Yongbyon.

The South Korean security official said that Seoul was monitoring the evolving situation and would "not jump to conclusions'' at this stage itself.

The question to be determined was whether or not North Korea had by now moved towards "reaching the red line'' or the nuclear weaponisation phase. What was expected of the international community was "thoughtful action'' that could facilitate a peaceful resolution of the gathering crisis.

Seoul's latest comments acquire significance in the context of the U.S. Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld's recent observation that America was capable of fighting wars on two fronts at the same time — Iraq and North Korea — if need be.

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