TOKYO, September 20 (RIA Novosti, Andrey Fesyun) - North Korea's demand for a light-water nuclear reactor before it has abandoned its nuclear program and has rejoined the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is unacceptable, a Japan's foreign minister told a news conference Tuesday.
Nobutaka Machimura said the United States and South Korea had consistently said the reactor would only be discussed after North Korea had abandoned its nuclear program and rejoined the NPT. The minister was responding to comments reportedly made by a North Korean diplomat that his country was willing to sign an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN's nuclear watchdog, and rejoin the NPT after the United States had delivered a light-water reactor to North Korea.
Participants in the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear problem signed a final statement on Monday that said North Korea declared it had the right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and that the provision of a nuclear light-water reactor would be discussed at "an appropriate time."
