한ㆍ미, 북한에 대화 제의

남북갈등이 심화되고 있는 가운데, 한ㆍ미 양국은 12일, 북한과의 대화를 원한다고 밝혔다.

존 케리 미국 국무부 장관과 윤병세 외교부 장관은 이날 회담을 가진 후 외교부 청사에서 가진 공동기자회견에서 이같이 말했다.

박근혜 대통령 (좌측)이 12일 존 케리 국무부 장관과 청와대에서 만나 악수를 하고 있다. (공동취재단)

케리 장관은 이날 북한의 김정은 국방위원회 제1위원장에게 “커다란 실수”를 저지르지 말고 한반도 비핵화를 위한 협상 테이블에 앉을 것을 촉구했다.

그는 만약 북한이 미사일 발사를 강행한다면 “이미 불안하면 위험한 상태로 번질 수 있는 상황에서 또 한번 불필요하고, 유감스러우며 달갑지 않은 행보를 하는 것”이라고 말하며 도발 위협을 계속하고 있는 북한의 김정은 국방위원회 제1위원장의 현명한 선택을 촉구했다.

케리 장관은 협상 이전에는 북한의 국제의무 준수가 대화의 조건이라면서 "국제적인 의무, 국제적인 표준, 자신들이 수용한 약속을 받아들여야 하며, 비핵화의 방향으로 나가야 대화가 시작될 수 있을 것"이라고 밝혔다.

그는 "미국은 대화할 준비가 돼 있지만 대화에는 진정성이 있어야 한다"면서 "아무도 대화를 위한 대화는 하지 않을 것"이라고 강조했다.

케리 장관은 북한이 탄도미사일 탑재가 가능한 핵무기를 보유했는지에 대해서는 "북한이 완전히 시험되고 개발된 능력이 있다는 것은 부정확하다"면서 "핵 운반체계 시험이 다 완료된 것은 아니다"라고 부인했다.

그는 북한이 핵보유국으로 인정되지는 않을 것이라는 점도 재확인했다.

케리 장관은 이어 한국 정부의 대북대화 제의 및 인도적 지원 방침과 관련, "미 국은 한국의 주권이나 독립적인 선택 의견을 방해할 생각이 전혀 없다"면서 한국 측과 긴밀히 협력할 것임을 분명히 했다.

다만 미국의 대북지원 여부에 대해서는 "북한의 의무준수 약속이 없다면, 비핵화를 수용하지 않는다면 원칙적으로 지원하지 않겠다는 방침"이라며 상대적으로 단호한 입장을 피력했다.

그는 "중국은 북한과 가장 중요한 관계가 있고 어떤 변화를 만들 수 있는 큰 영향력을 행사할 수 있다"면서 한반도 긴장 완화를 위해 중국 지도부와 긴밀히 논의하겠다는 입장도 밝혔다.

한미간 당면 현안인 원자력협정 개정 협상과 관련, "우리는 협정이 희망적으로 될 것으로 본다"면서 "박근혜 대통령이 5월 워싱턴에 올 때까지 여러 옵션 중 한 옵션, 다른 옵션을 통해 해결될 것으로 생각한다"며 낙관적인 입장을 피력했다.

윤병세 장관은 이와 관련, "양국은 가까운 시일 내 수석대표간 협의를 가질 것" 이라면서 "지금까지의 협상 결과를 종합 평가•점검하고 향후 진전에 대한 세부적 기술 사안을 협의하고 이에 따라 향후 개정 협상 방향을 정할 것"이라고 말했다.

윤 장관은 협상에 임하는 우리의 주요 기준은 사용후 핵연료의 효율적 처리와 안정적 공급 확보, 원전 수출 경쟁력 확보 등이라면서 "이 같은 기준에 맞게 되길 희망하며 한미동맹과 신뢰를 기반으로 그같은 결과가 나올 것으로 본다"고 말했다.

이와 관련, 양국은 이르면 내주에 수석대표간 협상을 시작할 것으로 전해졌다.

케리 장관과 윤병세 장관은 지난 2일 워싱턴DC에서의 회담에 이어 열흘만에 다시 회담을 갖고, 북핵문제와 원자력협정 개정 협상, 박근혜 대통령의 5월 첫 방미 등 현안에 대해 협의했다.

Seoul, Washington offer dialogue with North Korea

By Shin Hyon-hee

Tension on the Korean Peninsula took a new twist Friday as South Korea and the U.S. offered an olive branch to North Korea to defuse the security crisis through dialogue.

After their talks in Seoul, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called on Pyongyang to stop its saber-rattling and warned of a stern response to any provocations.

Amid the North’s threats of a nuclear strike and signs of an imminent missile test, Kerry urged North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to refrain from making a “huge mistake” and return to the negotiating table for denuclearization.

Firing the mid-range Musudan “will really be one more unnecessary, unfortunate, unwanted contribution to the already volatile, potentially dangerous situation,” he said.

“Our preference will be to get to talks. Our preference will be through the six-party or bilateral meetings to get to the place where we will talk about a real future.”

“We’re prepared to work with the conviction that relations between the North and the South can improve, and they can improve very quickly, and the world will be much better off if … the leader makes the right decisions.”

His visit came one day after President Park Geun-hye and Unification Minister Rhyu Kihl-jae offered dialogue to the communist regime to settle the disputes over the recently suspended joint industrial park in the border city of Gaeseong.

The North blocked the entry of South Korean workers and cargo starting April 4 and pulled out all its 53,000 workers from the complex five days later.

The shift in the mood in Seoul coincided with U.S. gestures to reduce pressure on the North.

Kerry said Obama instructed the postponement of a planned test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile. That followed a series of Washington’s shows of force involving stealth and nuclear bombers, cutting-edge fighters and an atomic submarine during its joint military drills with the South.

“I think we have lowered our rhetoric significantly and we are attempting to find a way for reasonableness to prevail here,” he said.

The former longtime senator with diplomatic expertise expressed confidence in Park’s “trustpolitik” vision on which he was briefed during their meeting earlier in the day.

“President Park was elected with a different vision for the possibilities of peace and we honor that vision,“ Kerry said, adding that her first summit with U.S. President Barack Obama will be “productive, positive and constructive when it takes place on May 6.”

During a meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, Park told Kerry that the trust-building process for the Korean Peninsula was on-going and that while any provocation by Pyongyang would be sternly dealt with, she was working to allow common development of the two Koreas to be accomplished by accumulating trust if the North accepts change and comes to dialogue, the presidential office said in a statement.

Kerry in response praised the approach that he expected would draw a line against the North’s pattern in the past. He also affirmed the U.S. government’s commitment to strongly deal with any threat or provocation by the North.

The two talked for over an hour, well past the scheduled time, to discuss North Korea, Seoul and Washington’s alliance, nuclear energy cooperation negotiations, Park’s visit to Washington next month, and other regional matters.

Kerry said he will raise the issue with Chinese leaders when he touches down in Beijing on Saturday because they have “enormous ability” to help rein in the bellicose leadership in Pyongyang.

“I think it’s clear to everybody in the world that no country in the world has a closer relationship with and (more of a) significant impact on (North Korea) than China,” Kerry said.

But he said that a peaceful Korea must be free of atomic weapons, reiterating Washington’s pledge to defend its allies.

“North Korea will not be accepted as a nuclear power. The rhetoric that we are hearing from North Korea is simply unacceptable on any standard,” Kerry said.

He arrived here as part of his 10-day tour to Europe, the Middle East and East Asia, following Yun’s trip to Washington last week.

Obama also on Thursday urged Pyongyang to “end the belligerent approach they have taken and to try to lower temperatures.”

During his meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Obama reiterated his pledge to “take all necessary steps” in case of a North Korean provocation.

“Nobody wants to see a conflict on the Korean Peninsula,” he added.

North Korea, for its part, appears to be toning down its hostile rhetoric against the allies, following weeks of brazen threats.

It has been preparing and begun taking in foreign visitors for the celebrations of the birth of its late founder, Kim Il-sung, official media said.

The North is technically ready to fire its Musudan mid-range missile which has recently been moved to its east coast, according to South Korean and U.S. officials.

A U.S. intelligence report unveiled Thursday concluded that the regime has achieved the knowhow to arm a ballistic missile with an atomic warhead, though it said the weapon was unreliable.

Yun said South Korea and the U.S. would start a new round of negotiations in the near future on a bilateral civilian nuclear energy pact, which Seoul seeks to revise to be able to reprocess spent fuel.

The upcoming talks would be the first since February 2012. In August 2010, the allies first began official negotiations over the 1974 pact, which expires in March 2014.

Seoul has also stressed the need for the revision as tons of nuclear waste has been piling up with storage space running short. Storage capacity for the Kori nuclear power plant is expected to reach its saturation point in 2016.

But Washington has expressed concerns that any amendment could hurt its global non-proliferation efforts given that the reprocessing process could lead to the production of weapons-grade fissile materials.

Observers have said the timing was not favorable for Seoul as U.S. public sentiment has worsened against proliferation issues due to prolonged nuclear standoffs with Pyongyang and Tehran.

(heeshin@heraldcorp.com)