Korea: Time to talk

South Korea need to be involved in any negotiations with North Korea

In a HardTalk interview recorded on 31 Jul, David Jessel speaks to South Korea's Ambassador to the UK, Tae-sik Lee, about the nuclear threat from North Korea.

The United States has been taking a tough line on North Korea. US under secretary of state for arms control and international security, John Bolton, has been in Asia.

The Iraqi experience must have given some kind of negative message to North Korea

Tae-sik Lee

While in South Korea, he launched a fierce verbal attack on North Korea, saying Pyongyang had accelerated its nuclear weapons programme while its people lived a "hellish nightmare". Ambassador Lee says harsh rhetoric needs to be abandoned by both sides. He says all the parties involved need to try to negotiate a solution to the crisis through peaceful dialogue.

Talks

China has been involved in efforts to try to negotiate a solution to the nuclear crisis.

North Korea has repeatedly said it wants direct talks with Washington.

The US wants the next round of talks to include South Korea and Japan, saying Pyongyang's nuclear programme is an issue for the entire region.

"I share the view with you that the situation is extremely critical in the sense that North Korea has started to reprocess the spent fuel rods," the Ambassador told HardTalk.

Ambassador Lee says although the situation is critical, he thinks there is reasonable ground to believe that some kind of solution can be worked out.

"I have rather cautious optimism," he says.

He says North Korea appears to be concerned about its own security.

"The Iraqi experience must have given some kind of negative message to North Korea in the sense Pyongyang would have believed that after Iraq, North Korea would be next."

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