Deleted User
09-17-2001, 10:20 PM
<title>N.Korea Demands U.S. Troop Pullout on Eve of Talks Squeaky Wheel squeaky squeakywheel@hotmail.com</title>
Saturday September 15 6:04 AM ET <br>
N.Korea Demands U.S. Troop Pullout on Eve of Talks<br>
<br>
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea (news - web sites) fired a salvo at the United States on Saturday on the eve of inter-Korean talks, demanding that Washington make a political decision to pull its troops out of South Korea (news - web sites) as soon as possible.<br>
<br>
In a commentary issued just hours after North Korean envoys arrived in Seoul for the first official North-South contacts in six months, Pyongyang accused the United States of trying to block reconciliation on the peninsula.<br>
<br>
The Rodong Shinmun newspaper, in an editorial carried by the Korea Central News Agency (KCNA), called the withdrawal of the 37,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea ``the master key to converting the state of armistice on the Korean peninsula into peace.''<br>
<br>
``The fulfillment of this task brooks not a moment's delay,'' the statement said, repeating a demand communist Pyongyang has made frequently since last month.<br>
<br>
U.S. ally South Korea and communist North Korea remain technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armed truce, not a peace treaty.<br>
<br>
``The new Bush administration has pursued a hard-line hostile policy toward the DPRK (North Korea) in the new century in a bid to derail the process of improving the DPRK-U.S. relations and spoil the hard-won atmosphere of peace and reconciliation prevailing on the Korean peninsula,'' the commentary said.<br>
<br>
A 27-member North Korean delegation arrived in Seoul on Saturday for the first North-South talks since Pyongyang broke off contacts in March.<br>
<br>
Pyongyang has blamed stalled North-South relations on Washington, demanding the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the South and accusing Washington of setting impossible preconditions for North Korea-U.S. talks.<br>
<br>
The United States and South Korea say the issue of troops is for the two allies to decide.<br>
<br>
Washington put its relations with North Korea on hold earlier this year as the Bush administration reviewed the policies of the previous Clinton government.<br>
<br>
Since June the United States has said it is willing to hold talks with North Korea without preconditions at any time and at any place. <br>
Saturday September 15 6:04 AM ET <br>
N.Korea Demands U.S. Troop Pullout on Eve of Talks<br>
<br>
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea (news - web sites) fired a salvo at the United States on Saturday on the eve of inter-Korean talks, demanding that Washington make a political decision to pull its troops out of South Korea (news - web sites) as soon as possible.<br>
<br>
In a commentary issued just hours after North Korean envoys arrived in Seoul for the first official North-South contacts in six months, Pyongyang accused the United States of trying to block reconciliation on the peninsula.<br>
<br>
The Rodong Shinmun newspaper, in an editorial carried by the Korea Central News Agency (KCNA), called the withdrawal of the 37,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea ``the master key to converting the state of armistice on the Korean peninsula into peace.''<br>
<br>
``The fulfillment of this task brooks not a moment's delay,'' the statement said, repeating a demand communist Pyongyang has made frequently since last month.<br>
<br>
U.S. ally South Korea and communist North Korea remain technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armed truce, not a peace treaty.<br>
<br>
``The new Bush administration has pursued a hard-line hostile policy toward the DPRK (North Korea) in the new century in a bid to derail the process of improving the DPRK-U.S. relations and spoil the hard-won atmosphere of peace and reconciliation prevailing on the Korean peninsula,'' the commentary said.<br>
<br>
A 27-member North Korean delegation arrived in Seoul on Saturday for the first North-South talks since Pyongyang broke off contacts in March.<br>
<br>
Pyongyang has blamed stalled North-South relations on Washington, demanding the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the South and accusing Washington of setting impossible preconditions for North Korea-U.S. talks.<br>
<br>
The United States and South Korea say the issue of troops is for the two allies to decide.<br>
<br>
Washington put its relations with North Korea on hold earlier this year as the Bush administration reviewed the policies of the previous Clinton government.<br>
<br>
Since June the United States has said it is willing to hold talks with North Korea without preconditions at any time and at any place. <br>