DATE=08/07/03

TYPE=WORLD OPINION ROUNDUP

NAME=NORTH KOREAN REVERSAL

NUMBER-6-13038

BY LINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE

DATELINE=Washington

EDITOR=Assignments

TELEPHONE=619-3335

CONTENT-

INTRO: Many major foreign papers consider North Korea's turnaround about joining regional talks on its nuclear weapons program a diplomat victory for the Bush administration. We get a sampling now from V-O-A's ___________ in this week's World Opinion Roundup.

TEXT: For months, Pyongyang had demanded one-on-one talks with the United States over its burgeoning nuclear arms program. But the Bush Administration kept insisting that North Korea's neighbors, U-S ally South Korea, as well as Japan, China and Russia be included. The American persistence finally paid off a few days ago, when the North Koreans agreed to multi-lateral negotiations. Many foreign papers are calling it a diplomatic success for Washington. We begin in Seoul, where the papers are pleased but wary. Joong-Ang Ilbo says that:

VOICE: In order [for success] participants … must voice one consistent message toward North Korea. …Six-party talks have opened the way for a peaceful resolution to the nuclear crisis, but it seems likely that the parties involved will continue to 'skate on thin ice' for the time being…

TEXT: Also in Seoul, Chosun Ilbo adds:

VOICE: It is not an exaggeration to say that the success of … talks with North Korea hinges on [South] Korean-U-S-Japan cooperation. The three … must first agree to what kind of security guarantee and economic assistance will be proved to North Korea if it gives up its nuclear weapons program…

TEXT: Lastly, Dong-a Ilbo is pleased, calling the decision "fortunate," but adding "it is too early for optimism because [this will be]… a long and difficult process… The Japanese press also remains cautious. Take Tokyo's Mainichi Shimbun for instance:

VOICE: Although [North Korea] … has accepted …[the] talks … A South Korean government official predicts that the North will try to use [them]… to continue playing the 'game of nuclear brinksmanship' to the bitter end…

TEXT: While in Tokyo's huge Yomiuri we read:

VOICE: … we can hardly say … this latest development by the North will lead to the abandonment of its nuclear ambitions. … has … North Korea … attached conditions to its acceptance of the …talks, and, if so, what …are they [?]

TEXT: And in Asahi, the question in the editorial writers mind is:

VOICE: …whether all parties … are able to make full use of 'their wisdom' in pursuit of having the North scrap its nuclear … program once and for all.

TEXT: As for China's official media, The Global Times in Beijing says of all the arguing which preceded the decision: "…The form of the talks is not important. What is important is to start… If the North Korean nuclear crisis can be peacefully resolved, it is beneficial for … the whole world…"

While in the International Herald Leader, there is this cautionary note: "… there is little possibility that the talks … will make a major breakthrough…" // Moving onto Russia's view, in Nezavisimaya Gazeta from Moscow, there is this chilling appraisal.

VOICE: How is Russia going to help the talks constructively? It may be too late now. If the North Koreans already have the bomb, they won't give it up.

TEXT: However Vremya Novostey sees the agreement to six party talks as "a victory for Moscow, which has favored negotiations all along."

In Western Europe, Germany's Financial Times Deutschland from Hamburg suggests:

VOICE: … the resumption of talks is a success … for the U-S … but it does not mean a swift and permanent solution to the ...conflict.

TEXT: In the opinion of Italy's Il Sole-24 Ore, based in Milan, "… The [North] Korean surrender won't be, as one could imagine, an unconditional one. North Korea's availability … is in fact pending on some preconditions." Lastly, moving to the sub-continent, India's Hindu from New Delhi worries that:

VOICE: … whichever way the current crisis is resolved in the Korean peninsula, global nuclear order and regional security in Asia are unlikely to look the same again…

TEXT: With that comment from The Hindu from Indian's capital of New Delhi, we conclude this foreign press editorial sampling on North Korea's acceptance of joint talks on its nuclear weapons program.

NEB/ANG/PT