By Park Song-wu
Staff Reporter


South Korea’s top diplomat has indicated that Seoul could review Pyongyang’s possible request for a nuclear inspection of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) to verify the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

South Korea is subject to the verification process, according to the joint principle statement of the six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear programs, which was adopted in Beijing on Sept. 19.

``If the North raises the issue of inspection and verification in the South, including the facilities of the USFK, we will cope with it rationally by utilizing the 1992 inter-Korean joint declaration, which contains the principle of mutual inspection,’’ Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ban Ki-moon told The Korea Times in a written interview, marking the newspaper’s 55th anniversary.

The Joint Declaration of South and North Korea on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, signed on Jan. 20, 1992, articulates that ``the two sides will conduct inspections of locations chosen by the other side and agreed upon by both sides.’’

It means the U.S. military installations in South Korea could technically become the target of inspections, if Seoul gives the nod to Pyongyang’s choice of American bases.

Such permission from Seoul would raise a serious diplomatic row with Washington, given that the United States has sovereignty over its military installations in South Korea.

Even though the U.S. reaffirmed in the six-party statement that it has no nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula, there has been no chance for an independent verification.

The U.S.’ stance on a possible request from North Korea for an inspection of the USFK is unknown. But such a demand could herald tough negotiations down the road in the six-party process.

In March 1992, the two Koreas established the South-North Joint Nuclear Control Commission (JNCC) to find ways to implement the declaration for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. But the commission failed to reach agreement on the reciprocal inspection regime.

During the 13 rounds of the JNCC meeting from March 19 to Dec. 17 in 1992, North Korea demanded South Korea and the U.S. permanently end Team Spirit military exercises and that it be allowed to inspect all U.S. military bases before it stopped reprocessing nuclear materials. However, neither South Korea nor the U.S. agreed to such terms.

All the possible controversies in the future, regarding the inspection and verification processes, originate from the joint statement of the six-party talks, which defines the Korean Peninsula, not North Korea, as the target for denuclearization.

During the negotiations in Beijing, Seoul agreed to accept Pyongyang’s demand that South Korea also be subject to the process of verifiable denuclearization to persuade North Korea to sign the joint principle document, Ban said.

``Participants in the talks have no difference of opinion that the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula means North Korea’s verifiable nuclear dismantlement,’’ he said. ``Taking a broader view of the matter, which needed a negotiated settlement, we accepted the balanced expression of confirming the absence of nuclear weapons in our territory.’’

A detailed action plan to realize a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula will be discussed when the next round of the talks resume this month, Ban said.

The two Koreas, the U.S., Russia, Japan and host China agreed to hold the fifth round of the six-party talks in Beijing in early November 2005 at a date to be determined through consultations.

im@koreatimes.co.kr